Care and Protection: Australia and the International Context

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the key themes in relation to the function of the child protection jurisdiction of Children’s Courts both in Australia and internationally. Particular attention is given to the operation of the child welfare court in New Zealand which looks to resolving family disputes in non-adversarial ways, avoiding trials and supporting families to, as much as possible, find their own solutions. For Maori, the indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand, this is significant to maintain children’s links with their cultural heritage. Legislation reinforces that wherever possible children should remain within the family system. It introduced family group conferencing as the key decision-making mechanism about the care and protection of children. It has now been adopted as a model of practice across international jurisdictions, including Australia, the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. The development of collaborative spaces across the spectrum of child protection intervention can moderate the adversarial nature of the child welfare jurisdiction practice. This chapter examines legal initiatives which engage families and resolve problems through less formal deliberative processes and shift child protection from the more forensic, bureaucratic and formulaic practices which have characterised its contemporary practice.