RAINBOW FAMILIES VICTORIA - SUBMISSION TO THE FAMILY LAW SYSTEM
REVIEW April-May 2018

We are seeking your personal stories as part of our submission to the Family Law System Review currently being conducted by the Australian Law Reform Commission.

Why? Because we want to be able to inform the ALRC about the negative and positive experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, gender diverse, intersex and queer parented and co-parented families- including donors, surrogates and children - when you interact with any part of the family law system. We want to illustrate how responsive the service system - including couselling, mediation or dispute resolution services - are to our diverse family forms and to our diverse relationships.

SURVEY ONE 
Short answer questions - you can answer one, some or all questions.

You can respond as someone who has personal experience and interaction with some or all parts of the whole family law system.

Your short answers might include negative or positive examples of:
looking up information on the family court website,
navigating the family law system itself,
children's experiences with support services or the court system,
service accessibility in rural or regional areas,
finding inclusive or responsive counsellors who understand diverse LGBTIQ relationships and rainbow families,
experiences with a family dispute resolution centre
experiences accessing support for family violence
and/or
being part of a family court proceeding (although please read the FAQ section on our website before you include specific court proceedings)

You do not need to have  gone to court to be able to respond - any information on your experience of any interaction, no matter how brief, will be gratefully accepted.

Your responses are also welcome as a service provider – you might work in the family violence sector, as a counsellor or mediator in the family court system, as family lawyers or with a professional expertise in children’s rights, child protection, child support or LGBTIQ specific practice of any kind.

If you wish to respond as both a consumer of services AND as a service provider please complete the survey twice - once as for each different role.

Complete SURVEY ONE  to all your responses to be used in our PUBLIC REPORT.

Complete SURVEY TWO if you would like to submit your personal experiences for our CONFIDENTIAL REPORT. This is a separate survey. 

FAQs - please refer to our website under Advocacy - Federal for more details: http://www.rainbowfamilies.org.au/advocacy/federal/ 

Thank you for participating in our survey.
Please contact Rainbow Families Victoria on info@rainbowfamilies.org au with any questions. 

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* 1. Please describe yourself in one sentence ( for example "Lesbian mother of three primary age children", "Queer coparent in a rainbow family with two teenage children", "LGBTIQ Family therapist located in Ballarat".) Your description will be used next to your short answer response in the public submission. Leave blank if you do not wish a descriptor to be included. 

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* 2. Please provide your name and contact details ONLY if you would like to be informed on how we intend to use your quotes or short answer responses in our final submission. Leave blank if you do not wish to be identified to Rainbow Families Victoria (only two members of the submission writing group will have access to the survey responses in full).

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* 3. In your opinion, how can the family law system be improved for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, gender diverse, queer or intersex people and our rainbow families - please also consider, if appropriate, your response in relation to improvements also for people with a disability, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities or people living in rural or regional areas of Victoria?

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* 4. Experience related to accessing an LGBTIQ responsive family support or counselling service. Provide two or three sentences on this experience, detailing any positive or negative examples of barriers to access, practice examples or language used.

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* 5. Experience of accessing an LGBTIQ responsive family support or counselling service in relation to family violence.  Provide two or three sentences on this experience, detailing any positive or negative examples of barriers to access, practice examples or language used.

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* 6. Experience of contacting or accessing a Family Dispute Resolution Centre. Provide two or three sentences on this experience, detailing any positive or negative examples of practice examples or language used.

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* 7. The Family Law Court website. Provide two or three sentences on this experience, detailing any positive or negative examples of accessibility, relevance or inclusiveness of information in relation to lGBTIQ people and rainbow families,  or language used.

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* 8. Your child’s experience of any part of the family law system - of counselling, of family support services, with an independent children’s lawyer or any other experience. Provide two or three sentences on this experience, detailing any positive or negative examples of practice or language used.

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* 9. Understanding of my diverse family formation when accessing a legal service AND/OR of court itself - including example of language used or questions asked by a judge or a family law practitioner regarding your rainbow family. Provide two or three sentences on this experience, detailing any positive or negative examples of practice or language used. (Read our FAQ for a reminder of including information from a court proceeding)

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* 10. Do you have any comments on Part VII (Part 7)  of the Family Law Act? This may include your comments on sections under Part VII: 60CC, 60H, 60HA, 60HB, for example. Visit here for the relevant part of the Act: http://www8.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdb/au/legis/cth/consol_act/fla1975114/

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