Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T22:05:22.825Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Why Two Jurisdictions? Some Aspects of the Historical Context of the Decision to Maintain Separate Courts for Married and Unmarried Parents in Relation to Parental Rights in Victoria

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 February 2024

Stephanie Charlesworth*
Affiliation:
University of Melbourne
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Many professional people working with families are frustrated by the fact that there is still a marked differentiation made between children of married parents and children of non-married parents in the courts. This division has persisted in spite of legislation to remove the status of illegitimacy and the reasons for this are far from obvious to those who are not lawyers. This paper traces the historical background of this split in jurisdiction between State and Federal Courts (i.e., the Family Court) and concludes that it is based on an anachronistic view of State’s rights which no social group or political party would support today.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1985

References

Burns, A. & Goodnow, J. Children and Families in Australia (1979), Sydney, George Allen & Unwin.Google Scholar
Gandevia, B. Tears Often Shed (1975), Sydney, Pergamon.Google Scholar
Hyslop, L.A. The Social Reform Movement in Melbourne 1890–1890 (1980), Ph.D, Thesis, La Trobe University.Google Scholar
SirQuick, John. Sir John Quicks Notebook (Ed.) (1965) L.E. Fredman Newcastle Print.Google Scholar
Victorian Parliamentary Debates, 18th October, 1883, 17th August 1890, 26 August 1890.Google Scholar
Victorian Year Books, 1895–1898, 1901.Google Scholar