judicial officers preside over matters involving family violence to strengthen understanding of family law and family violence and the impact of trauma. The Australian Government engage with relevant professional bodies within the child protection, family law and family violence systems with a view to encouraging collaboration in designing and delivering joint training opportunities aimed at strengthening cross-professional understanding. Children’s views and experiences Council notes that a number of submissions expressed a concern to ensure respect and due weight is accorded to views and experiences when assessing and responding to risk children’s within the family law system. Council notes in this regard the findings of the 2014 which confirmed that children hold strong views Independent Children's Lawyers Study, about their needs and the kinds of professional supports they require. This study suggests that children and young people expect to be consulted and to have their views taken seriously in relation to decisions about their post-separation care. This is consistent with Article 12 of the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child, to which Australia is a signatory, and the guiding principles of the National Framework for Protecting Children Australia’s More generally, a number of stakeholders consulted for this reference urged Council to ensure that experiences of the family law system are used to help guide the children’s development of any policy and service responses to families with complex needs. In its Council recommended the of regular meetings of relevant Interim Report, ‘convening stakeholder to explore ways of developing an integrated approach to the organisations’ management of cases involving families with complex needs (Rec. 5). Several stakeholders pointed to the importance of ensuring that children and young people are with a place at this collaborative Council acknowledges that in some ‘provided table’. jurisdictions, children and young people have input into family justice systems via advisory groups that allow them to provide feedback about their experiences of the system. An example is the United Family Justice Young People's Board. Council understands Kingdom’s that in South Australia, a trial will soon commence of a youth board, which will act as an advisory group to the family courts. Council commends this initiative. In view the development of client centred services must incorporate input from Council’s children and young people with experience of the family law system. Council notes in this regard the recommendation by the COAG Advisory Panel that all governments with ‘work children and young people to design services that can best support them to report violence’. Council supports this recommendation.
judicial officers preside over matters involving family violence to strengthen understanding of family law and family violence and the impact of trauma. The Australian Government engage with relevant professional bodies within the child protection, family law and family violence systems with a view to encouraging collaboration in designing and delivering joint training opportunities aimed at strengthening cross-professional understanding. Children’s views and experiences Council notes that a number of submissions expressed a concern to ensure respect and due weight is accorded to children’s views and experiences when assessing and responding to risk within the family law system. Council notes in this regard the findings of the 2014 Independent Children's Lawyers Study, which confirmed that children hold strong views about their needs and the kinds of professional supports they require. This study suggests that children and young people expect to be consulted and to have their views taken seriously in relation to decisions about their post-separation care. This is consistent with Article 12 of the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child, to which Australia is a signatory, and the guiding principles of the National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children More generally, a number of stakeholders consulted for this reference urged Council to ensure that children’s experiences of the family law system are used to help guide the development of any policy and service responses to families with complex needs. In its Interim Report, Council recommended the ‘convening of regular meetings of relevant stakeholder organisations’ to explore ways of developing an integrated approach to the management of cases involving families with complex needs (Rec. 5). Several stakeholders pointed to the importance of ensuring that children and young people are ‘provided with a place at this collaborative table’. Council acknowledges that in some jurisdictions, children and young people have input into family justice systems via advisory groups that allow them to provide feedback about their experiences of the system. An example is the United Kingdom’s Family Justice Young People's Board. Council understands that in South Australia, a trial will soon commence of a youth board, which will act as an advisory group to the family courts. Council commends this initiative. In Council’s view the development of client centred services must incorporate input from children and young people with experience of the family law system. Council notes in this regard the recommendation by the COAG Advisory Panel that all governments ‘work with children and young people to design services that can best support them to report violence’. Council supports this recommendation.
Family-with-Complex-Needs-Intersection-of-Family-Law-and-Child-Protection-Systems-Final-Report-Terms-3-4-5.DOCX