Family law courts and the mistreatment of women and children - with a/Prof Camilla Nelson

Today I am speaking with Associate Professor Camilla Nelson. Camilla is an expert and writer on gender, law and media cultures at the University of Notre Dame. Camilla has authored several books, including recent essay collections called On Happiness and Dangerous Ideas About Mothers. I’m interviewing Camilla on her recent book co-authored with Professor Catharine Lumby, Broken: Children, parents and family courts.

In the discussion we highlight how the family courts have strayed from their original intention 50 years ago, how political violence has shaped their culture, and that this means children and women are often less safe after going through the system.

A content note that this talk does discuss family violence. Please call 1800 respect if you require assistance, or I know that you have your trusted supports.

Timestamps

Why regulation matters to children, women and families in the family court system (2:00)
How a lack of regulation of predatory lawyering is impacting families (11:00)
How the current family laws function to regulate and reinstate patriarchal relations between parents (19:00)
How access obligations can operate as surveillance systems on parents (26:30)
How this wasn’t the intention of Parliament when Gough Whitlam passed the Family Law Act 1974 (32:45)
How political terrorism led to more influence of men’s rights activists over the family law system (36:15)
How neutrally-appearing laws favour men over women in family law (43:00)
What kinds of changes do we need to make to improve the system (46:30)
What you can do to help (53:30).


Show notes

On the recent conviction of Leonard Warwick (the “Family Court Bomber”), 35 years after he committed the offence:    • Family Court bomber Leonard Warwick senten...  



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