6 June 2008

FAMILY DISPUTE RESOLUTION FOR ALL PARENTING ORDERS

All people applying to the Family Court or the Federal Magistrates Court for a parenting order must first attend family dispute resolution under changes to family law, except where there is child abuse, family violence or in matters of urgency, Attorney-General Robert McClelland said today.

The changes will take effect from 1 July 2008 and are designed to help separating families resolve disputes without litigation. The changes were foreshadowed as part of the 2006 family law reforms.

The new requirements affect all applications to the court for a parenting order under Part VII of the Family Law Act 1975 relating to children's matters, irrespective of whether previous applications to the court have been made.

"Currently, people are only required to attend family dispute resolution if they have lodged a new application for a parenting order after 1 July 2007," Mr McClelland said.

"These new measures reinforce that the Government is determined to develop a culture where access to the Courts in family disputes is a matter of last resort."

"The exceptions to family dispute resolution will remain in cases where there is child abuse or family violence, or in matters of urgency," Mr McClelland said.

A parenting order is a set of directions made by a court about a couple's parental responsibilities. When a parenting order is made, each person affected by the order must follow the order.

As we start out each year most have, at the very least ,passing thoughts of what we might want to achieve this year. For some it may be a conscious plan i.e. take an overseas trip this year, lose weight or gain a promotion at work. We all have things that we wish for, but to actually attain the things that we want, we must develop strategies to accomplish them. Regardless of whether your desires are personal or career oriented you need SMART goals - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-driven. Just six simple steps to be more effective.

1. Decide what your want/need. Be specific. Write it down. Writing it down is essential. The act of writing it down does many things. It converts ambiguous, fleeting thoughts into a concrete reality. It reinforces commitment in your brain and psychologically helps to work towards your goal. More importantly you will have a deeper satisfaction when you make significant progress towards the goal. So that you can gauge your progress, the goal must be measurable and this usually involves a timeframe.

2. Determine what must be done. Write it down Your path must be determined by the destination. Do your research - find out what is required or how much it will cost? Take this information and break it down into small manageable steps. These steps should stretch you a little, but not so far as to discourage you completely. Set out the sequence of steps that must occur and then fit a goal timeframe. These are your intermediate goals.

3. Ask yourself is it worth it? Write it down You will set yourself up for failure if you don't do this step. Through out the process you are sure to challenge yourself "is this worth it". If you complete this step before starting, you will be able to reinforce to yourself the reasons why it is worth it- when those niggling doubts start to creep in. Therefore you must evaluate your motivation for completing this goal. Write down all the points that you can think of. Revisiting this list will help to re-focus you and energise your commitment if it wanes.

4. Commit to a clear course of action. Yes... Write it down! So you are ready to commit. You know what to do and are prepared for the effort. You must commit to do so. If you cannot commit, maybe you need to revisit steps 1-3 and make some adjustments - i.e. the timeframe.

5. Make daily steps towards the goals By breaking the goal into manageable steps, you will not be overwhelmed by the task. However, if you cannot see daily steps towards the goal, you may lose sight of the destination. You need to keep you brain focused on that goal. Acknowledge how things that you have done today will move you towards that goal. This will help with your motivation. If you need to, place reminders on your desk or at home -- these will become subliminal after awhile, but they will still prick your conscience.

6. Re-evaluate and Reaffirm your commitment On a regular basis, again make this a specific timeframe, re-evaluate your progress. Are you on track? If not review what needs to happen to improve the progress. Review steps 1-4 and recommit to your goal. If you are on track - congratulations! Reward yourself - but stay focused. Now recommit to the remainder of the tasks. Everyone benefits from goal setting, without it, life can just seem to be happening to us, pushing and pulling us in all directions. We can even start to feel powerless about what's happening and where we are heading. Remember to set goals for all areas of your life, it's not all about what we want to achieve in our working lives, it's also about 'having a life'. Living a balanced life is about finding ways to balance work, family and friends, without losing your health, sense of humour or sanity along the way! So if you feel that your balance is out of check -draining the life out of you - try some simple goal-setting to help correct the balance. Yölande Eriksen