I am posting my reply here as well, just in case anyone else needs help with a similar question. The pages referenced are from Excel.
Briefly explain how the law reflects the moral and ethical standards in the area of family relationships.
I don't know how long this essay is, so I am just giving you everything I have, pick and choose what is useful. There is some mention of morality and ethics on page 179, with links to other areas that you should look at. I don't really like a lot of what is said there, but hey, that is my biased opinion.
Best answer basically states
Morality is concerned with what is considered to be right or wrong and includes the notion of ethical behaviour, that is, behaviour that is seen to be good, right, honest, fair and proper. It is important to remember, however, what is considered fair and proper behaviour often changes. The law reflects the changing moral and ethical standards through the process of reform.
Prime examples are dissolution of marriage [page 147] (Introduction of Family law act 1975: easier to get divorce, no fault divorces and removal of 14 grounds of divorce and introduction of "irretrievable breakdown of marriage" as the only grounds for divorce), also increased recognition of alternative family arrangements[157] reflects moral standards that marriage no longer only form of family. Recognition of rights of the child as paramount reflects our recognition of children as the most vulnerable group in divorces[152]. Finally, you could mention domestic Violence [172] (used to be considered a "family matter" by judges, police and public, now a criminal offense.)
Evaluate the effectiveness of the legal system dealing with non-compliance with the law with respect to families".
[see page 179, for a general account. Again, I think it is fairly shit, but whatever.]
My basic argument would be, yes it is fairly successful, however, non compliance is an issue particulary as family law by its very nature is divisive and deals with complex personal and financial issues. Whether or not an individual will comply, in family law, is primarily influenced by whether they feel they have been properly treated or not. The legal system has tried to involve both parents in creating family plans in the hope that they will be less likely to breach it, and mediation also attempts to lessen non-compliancy and the introduction of the three stage parenting compliance regime
There are the examples of paying maintenance, AVOs (particularly relevant, with a lot of good case studies) and not complying with parenting plans (the introduction of the parenting compliance regime).
AVOs is on page 174. I wrote an extended response on DV, so I am just going to give you all of my information of AVOs pick and choose what you need.
An apprehended violence order is an order imposed by a local court, which restricts the behaviour of a defendant for a period of time. They were first introduced as part of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) in 1983 and have been since strengthened. AVOs are by far the most commonly used legal weapon against domestic violence. The order itself does not give a criminal record. However the breach of an AVO is a criminal offence and the police may arrest and charge a person who breaches an order. Apprehended Domestic Violence Orders (ADVOs) are made when a domestic relationship exists between the victim and the defendant. Apprehended Personal Violence Orders (APVOs) are made to protect a person from a defendant when there is no domestic relationship which links the two people, for example, neighbours or work colleagues.
A victim can obtain AVO if he or she can prove, on the balance of probabilities that he or she reasonable apprehends violence or harassment by the defendant. An AVO can be obtained by anyone over 16 years of age and whole familles can be protected by one order. Either police or the victim through a magistrate can start proceedings to obtain an order. AVOs are very flexible because the court can order the defendant from doing a large range of activities, such as assaulting or threatening the victim, possessing firearms, approaching the victim’s home or stalking or intimidating the victim. If the defendant fails to obey an order he or she can be arrested immediately and be found guilt of a criminal offence. Maximum penalties for a breach of an AVO are a $5500 fine and or 2 years of imprisonment. Interim AVOs can be obtained over the telephone from a chamber magistrate. These can remain in force for up to five days and can be issued if the police are satisfied that the person seeking the interim order is at immediate risk. AVOs generally remain in force for 6 months unless otherwise specified. Under amendments to the Bail Act 1978 (NSW), there is no presumption ion favour of bail where an AVO has been breached by an act of violence and there has been a previous history of violence. Police also have broad powers to search and seize firearms in a house where there has been a complaint of DV. The police must suspend any firearm licenses and seize firearms from a person subject to an AVO.
There are a few issues with AVOs. These include that a breach may be hard to prove and police are sometimes reluctant to institute proceedings for an AVO. The most important however, is that a piece of paper can rarely stop someone from doing something that they want to do. As well, in some cases the issuing of an AVO has led to an increase in violence because of resentment felt by the offender, for example the Katherine Knight case in which Knight murdered and skinned her husband after he put an AVO out on her. There are a number of prominent cases that have highlighted that AVOs are not always effective in protecting victims of domestic violence, for example the case the case of Andrea Patrick. Her de facto murdered Ms Patrick two days after he was charged with assault and an AVO was taken against him. This caused the amendment to the Bail Act 1978 (NSW) by removing the presumption in favour of bail. It is now up to the offender to prove to the court that they should be granted bail. However, the majority of cases (approximately 70 %) are never breached and are an effective means of protecting the applicant from further violent acts.
Primary dispute resolution is dealt with on page 149, with both advantages and disadvantages. The Child Support Scheme is dealt with on page 154, I don't suggest you use all of that information but it is useful background. Finally parenting plans (if you need more examples) are dealt with on page 152.
CONCLUSION and you are done.
Good luck, I hoped this helped and wasn't too much information or too late. I went a bit overboard because I just finished an assessment. Which is kind of a weird reason but whatever.
