A full day educational opportunity for mental health professionals and lawyers to hear an internationally recognized expert on children and divorce, and to dialogue with a family law professional who brings a perspective of many years as a legal scholar, researcher, and family law reformer.
OVERVIEW
Professor Parkinson has written extensively on various aspects of the enduring responsibility of parents to meet their children’s needs after separation. He will be speaking on topics which include the results of a 5 year longitudinal study on the impact of relocation, what research says about the post separation arrangements for children under the age of 4 years, and the myths, perceptions and realities of family law reform.
KEY SPEAKER: Prof. Patrick Parkinson
Patrick Parkinson is a professor of law at the University of Sydney Law School and specialist in family law, child protection and the law of equity and trusts. He is a Special Counsel at a specialist firm of family lawyers located in Sydney and Canberra, and a consultant at International Family Law Group (iFLG) in London and Australia. He is one of the world’s leading family law academics. He has particular expertise on parenting after separation, relocation, child support, and complex property matters. His books include Tradition and Change (5th ed, 2013), Australian Family Law in Context (5th ed, 2012), Family Law and the Indissolubility of Parenthood (2011), and The Voice of a Child in Family Law Disputes (with Judy Cashmore, 2008). He is President of the International Society of Family Law. Prof. Parkinson is also well-known for his community work concerning child protection. He was Chairperson of a major review of the state law concerning child protection which led to the enactment of the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 in New South Wales.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND
This lecture is designed for professionals dealing with parents who have separated with young children: family lawyers, collaborative practitioners, mental health professionals, assessors preparing s.15 custody reports, mediators and parenting coordinators. There is additional time for dialogue with Prof. Parkinson around the impact of family law reform, particularly in light of the Family Law Act.