Well on the 7th of August 2008 we were very proud that Lynette received an
Award from the Queensland Business Review Women in Business in the Professional
Services Category. She is very excited about the award, but was also surprised
and pleased at the same time. She thanks her staff and loyal clients for her
success. Lynette noted in her acceptance speech that a genuine concern for her
clients was the guiding force behind her and her staff at all times and if you
care for your clients, the rest "just sort of follows" she said. It should be
noted Lynette had not expected to win and so had not prepared any sort of speech
at all. Thank goodness her preparation for Court is always much more thorough.
Well done Journey. Well done Lyn and all the team. Thank you Sian for the
nomination.
This is the text of an Article in the courier Mail by
Fran Metcalf recently.Single dads’ growing
involvement in their
children’s lives will
be reflected in child
support payment
and custody deals,
writes Fran Metcalf
Times — and attitudes — inside courtrooms and
within society have changed towards fathers
IT TOOK Lynette Galvin more
than five years of practising
family law before she began to
really understand the plight of
people like Owen Easterbrook.
Although the two have never met,
Galvin and Easterbrook have been
navigating the same sticky minefield
of divorce and child custody for the
past several years.
Galvin has pursued her course,
striving for more than 20 years to
build a practice that helps clients
achieve the best possible outcome
from their broken relationships.
Easterbrook, however, found himself
mired in the litigious and
emotionally volatile quagmire of family
law after his marriage ended about
six years ago.
While his story is similar to those of
many other Australians who have also
faced relationship breakdowns,
Easterbrook’s outcome reflects a new
and growing trend among single
fathers.
The Federal Government released
statistics earlier this week showing
that one-in-five single-parent families
is now headed by fathers.
The figures revealed that in June
1997 only 7.5 per cent of people
receiving child support payments were
men while, at the end of last year,
21 per cent of applications were from
men.
The study also showed that noncustodial
parents who pay child support
to the custodial parent are
spending more time with their children,
with almost 10 per cent looking
after their kids for at least 30 per cent
of the time. In 1999, fewer than 5 per
cent did so.
Easterbrook is an example of this
statistical trend. After his marriage
broke down, he eventually won shared
custody of his two children who are
now aged 14 and 10.
The children spend one week at his
place and the next week with their
mother. If their schedules are disrupted,
the parents try to even things
out between the two households.
‘‘I was nowhere near as involved in
the raising of my children back then as
I am now,’’ Easterbrook admits.
‘‘My job used to involve a lot of
after-hours work and that contributed
to the relationship breakdown.
‘‘But I have learnt from that and I
now take more time for my kids, do
more things with them and do more
things that benefit them.’’
Times — and attitudes — inside
courtrooms and within society as a
whole have changed towards fathers
like Easterbrook, says Galvin.
When she began practising family
law in 1986, she was quickly indoctrinated
into the accepted standard of
the day that fathers were awarded
‘‘the usual orders’’ when it came to
child custody arrangements — access
every other weekend and half of
school holidays.
Few practitioners, judges or men,
questioned it.
But then one day a male client
broke down in tears in Galvin’s office
and wept that he couldn’t face not
seeing his children for 12 days straight.
‘‘As a mother at the time, it really
pulled me up and made me realise the
father’s point of view,’’ she remembers.
Ever since, she’s striven for shared
parenting arrangements for all her
clients — male and female — who
walk through the door of her Journey
Family Lawyers practices in Brisbane
and Rockhampton.
She says recent changes to family
law legislation have helped the
shared-parenting cause and Relationships
Australia Queensland director of
practice, Samantha Aldridge, agrees.
‘‘The amendments to family law
legislation last year encouraged, for
the first time, shared parenting and
emphasised the importance of both
parents being actively involved in
their children’s lives,’’ Aldridge says.
The amendments obliged courts to
consider substantial care, rather than
alternate weekends and half of school
holidays, in the first instance for noncustodial
parents.
‘‘It stresses the value of shared
parenting on a young person’s life,’’
Aldridge says.
‘‘And I believe the biggest change
we’ve seen has been in the area of
substantial care — non-custodial
parents spending more time with their
children and being more creative
about when and how they do it.’’
It could be taking kids to sport
practice one afternoon each week or
attending matches on weekends.
But Aldridge says another significant
factor facilitating this trend has
been a rise in family-friendly work
agreements whereby employers are
more flexible when it comes
to helping staff meet domestic
obligations.
‘‘It’s anecdotal but from what our
clients are reporting, there’s a lot more
flexibility at work,’’ she says.
Child Support Agency deputy general
manager, David Mole, has been
reported as saying the Government’s
statistics are a reflection of fathers
playing a greater role in their children’s
lives.
With more than two decades of
family law experience behind her,
Galvin agrees and says changing
social attitudes and structures means
men are far more involved with their
kids than they used to be.
‘‘These days, when both parents are
working, things are different,’’ she
says.
‘‘Men share the parenting while
their relationship is intact and can’t
see why that shouldn’t continue when
it ends.’’
But family law changes to come
into effect in July next year are
causing fear among some women
who, despite recent trends, remain the
vast majority of custodial parents.
Under the changes, the formula for
calculating child support payments
will be based on the combined income
of both parents rather than a percentage
of the income of the payer.
There are concerns that up to
60 per cent of non-custodial parents
— mostly fathers — will reduce their
payments.
Galvin calls for caution, saying the
upcoming amendments simply provide
a formula for what courts have
been doing for years.
Besides, she says most couples sort
out their child support and custody
arrangements by themselves and
never seek the services of the courts.
But Easterbrook says child support
is a major issue for single fathers who
have been calling for changes to the
calculation system for years to try to
lighten their financial burden.
Info: www.familyrelationships.gov.au
LIFE’s good . . . Glen Walker with Jessie and John. ‘He makes me do my homework.
When he’s home we go fishing.’ Picture: Bruce Long
Children reap rewards of life with a single dad
Margaret Wenham
GLEN Walker is among the growing
ranks of single fathers taking on fulltime
or shared parenting—and he’s
loving it.
‘‘I’m there when they need me and
we’re pretty good mates,’’ he says.
The father of two—John, 13, and
Jessie, 10—in Redland Bay,
southeast of Brisbane, says despite
working full time as a tree lopper, he
always finds time to spend with his
boys.
Fortunately, his job allows him to
finish work before the boys return
home from school.
Numbered among the difficulties,
he says, is being the only parent to
mete out discipline.
‘‘There’s no back-up, so that’s one
thing,’’ he says.
‘‘And my social life is pretty
restricted—that doesn’t worry me
though.’’
Walker, who has been the boys’
residential parent for some five
years, says while he had applied for
child support, he had not yet
received any.
Nonetheless, his situation is one
that figures in new statistics released
by the Child Support Agency
showing a significant increase in the
number of fathers taking on the role
of primary carer after a relationship
breakdown.
Federal Human Services Minister,
Senator Chris Ellison, says the
number of fathers registering to
receive child support has increased
substantially in the past 10 years.
In 2006, 21 per cent of new Child
Support Agency cases had a father as
primary carer, up from just 7.5 per
cent in 1997.
The term ‘‘primary carer’’ relates
to the parent having more than 220
nights care of the children a year.
Child Support Agency deputy
general manager David Mole says
the figures reflect fathers playing a
greater role in children’s lives.
‘‘Society appears to be more
flexible now with working part-time
and the types of jobs people take up,
which might allow them to be the
primary carer for children,’’ he says.
‘‘That’s reflected in more of a
balance in caring arrangements with
both parents playing a greater role.
‘‘There seem to be more options
these days.’’
Ellison says there is also a positive
trend towards non-residential
parents who pay child support
having more contact with their
children.
‘‘In December 2006, 9.5 per cent
of paying parents had child-contact
for 30 per cent or more nights in the
year, compared with only 4.4 per
cent in June 1999,’’ he says.
‘‘I’m optimistic there is a more
positive aspect to family separation
in Australia.
‘‘While no one wants relationships
to fail, many families in Australia
manage to go forward positively with
their lives after separation and
increasingly children are benefiting
from more contact with both
parents.’’
Young John Walker says life with
his father is good.
‘‘My Dad takes care of me,’’ he
says. ‘‘He makes me do my
homework. When he’s home we go
fishing—that’s my favourite thing.
‘‘Dad’s taught us how to go fishing
and crabbing.
‘‘Yes I’m happy living with him.’’
66 FOCUS
http://www.qldcricket.com.au/images/BetweentheWickets_Nov2006.pdf
Read about our Kirsten's great cricket achievements.
She has just been named joint player of the match in India this month. We hope
she remembers to come back to work!
For More Information Contact:
Journey Brisbane Family Lawyers
level 24,Lennons Chifley Tower, Queen Street Mall, Brisbane and 195 Bolsover Street Rockhampton
Tel: 0732101333
FAX: 0732102377
Internet:
law@journeyfamilylawyers.com.au
