for so-called 'shared parenting' to work, both former partners must be on such terms that they'd be able to share the responsibility - and the actual day-to-day details of executing this wonderous new social experiment.

many former partners do not want to have anything more to do with the person they spurned, or the the one who 'kicked them out'. some have a hard enough time getting regular support payments out of them, let alone regular commitment to time and space. others discover they were never the biological parent of the child they'd been supporting.

reform of the way we manage relationship breakups, and in particular the property arrangements that follow - and children do impact on the way property is distributed post-factum - should be much more than just "share it".

much is made of "power" and "abuse" in the debates. a few point out that the woman has too much power here, or the guy gets screwed there, and so on. reasonableness and maturity *cannot* be legislated into existence.

lawyers will not be strangers to relationship post-mortems for the forseeable future. people will fight with each other, out of anger, hurt, justice, and whatever else. many relationships break up because of a lack of maturity - which cannot be solved by legislation or mediation.

much more ought to be done *before* people get themselves into the mess in the first place. but realistically, people will continue to be who they are. children will get used as weapons, will be victimised, will be mistreated. more will not.

much of the way relationships are understood at the moment bares little relationship to reality. some things have changed. some things haven't. relationships don't last as long as they used to. that ought to be accomodated in the way we shape our society. trying to fight it /after/ the horse has bolted is stupid.

if we want to encourage more mature resolutions, we ought to encourage more mature relationships in the first place. and begin by encouraging more mature people. the things we expect do matter.

"The need revealed by women’s groups for funding and resources to support abused women and children is well established and accepted."

How is it well established? What information are you relying on Mr Green to support the making of that statement given the years of propaganda pumped out by women's groups seeking taxpayer funding. As a person who practiced law Mr Green you should know that courts fail to make proper determinations of guilt with respect to women who allege abuse. So because there is no official government interest in establing the true extent of abuse perpetrated on women in the community there is no way of evaluating what their needs are.

[Post deleted for abuse and poster suspended]

I grew up without a father {since 4yo|, with no guidelines on 'man' issues, it was easy to be anti-social as a teenager.
Now 50yo, I've been taking anti-depressive tablets for years, especially after, the 'part time waitress' de-facto Ex, employed a Lawyer after starting another relationship, to get what she could.
I have worked permanently since 15yo, and weekends, to earn an 'average wage’, her and my female lawyer agreed to her demands of;
Her maintaining Custody of our children, only 1 night p.w. at my place. Half my large Superannuation in CASH {no tax or waiting till 65}.More than half of Assets {the house valued at over inflated 2004 prices},all regardless of my mortgage repayments and contributions.
The Govt's relationship's centre's will not fix anything when ;
"No-Fault" separations teaches No Accountability to women, it provides Judges with a "easy norm" to be bias in favour of women and makes Lawyer's very rich by escalating conflict, "all in the children's best interest" , I think not !

Maelorin, it sounds like you're saying "it's not going to work, so let's not even try". Like someone else said, its going to happen whether we like it or not, but I really think this is a good thing (and yes I'm a chick). With the high rates of divorce in this country, we are potentially spurning a generation of people who have only known their dad's every 2nd weekend of their life (at best). Kids need their mums and dads, if this has even a sliver or a chance of working, lets go for it.

Politicians, useless lawyers. Lawyers, useless politicians.

'In 10 years' time will there be any work left for the generalist family lawyer? '

Yep thats all that matters doesn't it, you lot will find a way to keep screwing everyone.

'Radical feminism has done a disservice to women.'

It's done more of a disservice to men and society in general

“The government is to be congratulated on having the courage and energy to effect a new system of family law and practice so soundly based on reliable research and the aspirations of right-thinking men and women “

What politicians, economists, lawyers and beaurucrats. Any fool can see that they are the problem.

I brought my kids up until they went their own ways, but still got screwed by my ex and her womens network. I and both my children slept in a small caravan for two years because the local housing scheme refused to give men with children housing. My ex left taking the kids, took me to court within 3 months, to get me off our property and transfered to her name, then sold up gave me the kids and went to England.

Every time I tried to do something through the courts, I was stopped by costs. No lawyer every gave me 1 minute of their time freely or helped in any way.

All parents should be entitled to and society should expect them to jointly bring up their children, even if they aren't still together. In abuse cases, thats different. But a women being abusive emotionally, verbally and physically, towards their ex, is certainly psychological abuse of the children. Just look at the state of our society, to see where the current approach has placed us.