Summary of findings: In a speech at a conference organised by the International Family Law Group, Professor Parkinson of the Sydney Law School criticises the misrepresentation of outcomes from Australian family law reform by Norgrove’s Family Justice Review. Professor Parkinson is highly critical of representations made that a presumption of shared parenting resulted in an increase in litigation. There was no evidential basis for the FJR’s statement in that regard. Other assumptions/presumptions were similarly wrong, including that a presumption of shared parenting would lead to an equal split of parenting time. There was no evidence base upon which the Norgrove committee could reach that conclusion.
Speech hosted by the International Family Law Group at the Palace of Westminster, 2012.
