John De Maio

Cohort Profile: Building a New Life in Australia (BNLA): the longitudinal study of humanitarian migrants

Core funding for the project is provided by the Department of Social Services from April 2014; from 2012 to March 2014, funding was provided by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship

Mandatory Dispute Resolution and the 2006 Family Law Reforms: Use, Outcomes, Links to Other Pathways, and the Impact of Family Violence

Abstract Community-based mandatory family dispute resolution (more generically known as family mediation) is a central plank of the 2006 changes to the Australian family law system. This paper provides an overview of the data on family dispute resolution from the Australian Institute of Family Studies’ evaluation of the 2006 changes. It reports on usage rates of family dispute resolution as well as immediate and medium term outcomes, perceived pathways towards resolution and the impact of family violence on both outcomes and pathways. Though the story is a generally positive one, the data also suggest a need for family relationship sector practitioners and family lawyers to engage proactively in assisting those families who are experiencing significant violence and or significant levels of ongoing serious conflict.

The family relationship centre legal assistance services partnerships program: Evolution and evaluation

Abstract In June 2009, the Commonwealth Attorney General announced a Family Relationship Centres/ Legal Assistance Partnerships Program, (the ‘Better Partnerships’ program) the aim of which was to assist separated or separating families, ‘by providing access to early and targeted legal information and advice when attending Family Relationship Centres’ (McClelland, 2009). The present paper contextualizes this significant shift in policy and practice. It then reports on key results of an evaluation of the program, completed in late 2010 by the Australian Institute of Family Studies. The paper concludes with reflections on the program and on future directions.