Shared Care Parenting Arrangements since the 2006 Family Law Reforms: Report to the Australian Government Attorney-General's Department

Abstract

The federal Attorney General‘s Department commissioned a consortium (researchers at the Social Policy Research Centre (SPRC), the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS), and the University of Sydney Law School) led by the SPRC to undertake research on the implications of the changes to the 2006 Family Law Reforms on Shared Care Parenting, and the circumstances under which shared care arrangements work, and do not work, in the best interests of the child.

Sources of information The study was conducted using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. It involved analysis of a range of existing datasets as well as a survey of parents and of children devised for the purposes of this study. Each dataset and survey instrument had its strengths and limitations, and no one part of the study gives a comprehensive picture about shared care. By analysing a range of different sources of information, a more comprehensive picture could be obtained. The findings presented in this report come from the following sources:  Growing up in Australia: the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC).  The Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey.  The Caring for Children After Parental Separation study (CFC) (2003).  The ABS Family Characteristics Surveys (FCS) (1997 and 2003), and the Family Characteristics and Transitions Survey 2006-07 (FCTS), with some additional information as supplied from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the Australian Institute of Family Studies.  A survey of more than 1000 parents, which included both parents who had shared care arrangements and those who did not. These parents were recruited by various means including mailouts to a stratified-random sample of CSA clients, and a sample of parents recruited via solicitors, legal aid centres and other family support centres.  A survey of 136 children, conducted online.  Interviews with 40 parents.  Case studies of children.  Data from emails sent to the National Children‘s and Youth Law Centre by children who had questions or concerns about parenting arrangements.

Overall, this research paints a positive picture of shared care in terms both of parental satisfaction and children‘s wellbeing. However, it remains only a relatively small minority of parents who can share the care of the children and fewer still manage to sustain it for a substantial period of time. Much of the success of shared care derives from factors other than the care arrangement itself, and in particular, higher levels of cooperation and joint decision-making and a lower incidence of reported violence or safety concerns. There are nonetheless, some parents who share care who do not have a cooperative relationship, and some children whose experience of shared care is not positive. There is no reason to suggest that shared care is intrinsically better or worse than the more common pattern of primary maternal care, except for the fact that it is one form of care with which both parents are satisfied, and this may be a factor in reducing conflict over post-separation parenting arrangements.