https://forum.familylawexpress.com.au/ Thu, 16 Apr 2026 14:29:11 +0000 MyBB https://forum.familylawexpress.com.au/Thread-Highly-skilled-and-experienced-Brisbane-divorce-solicitors Wed, 24 Sep 2025 05:00:19 -0600 https://forum.familylawexpress.com.au/Thread-Highly-skilled-and-experienced-Brisbane-divorce-solicitors
All of our solicitors are admitted to practice in the Family Court of Australia, Federal Circuit Court of Australia and Supreme Court of Queensland. Our professional staff regularly conduct family and de-facto law matters in these jurisdictions and are experienced litigators.

CALL 07 2112 3947 TO ARRANGE AN APPOINTMENT WITH ONE OF OUR BRISBANE FAMILY LAWYERS AT JAMES NOBLE LAW BRISBANE: THE FAMILY LAW EXPERTS IN FAMILY RESOLUTION

James Noble is a Queensland Law Society Accredited Family Law Specialist with more than 50 years experience as a solicitor practising in family law. He is a member of the Family Law Practitioners’ Association, the Queensland Law Society, the Family Law Council of Australia and the Family Law section of the Law Council of Australia. James is also a Notary Public. James has also been instrumental in developing Collaborative Practice in Brisbane. He is a member of Queensland Collaborative Law whose members are at the forefront of developing this new approach in Family Law Brisbane.

BRISBANE FAMILY LAW

James was a partner in a national law firm before starting James Noble Family Law Brisbane in 2003. His passion is to provide specialist family and relationship law and advice that emphasizes amicable and timely resolution of relationship difficulties through negotiation and mediation. James Noble Law Brisbane is highly experienced in the practice of mediation.

  images (4).jpeg (Size: 8.82 KB / Downloads: 0) ]]>
All of our solicitors are admitted to practice in the Family Court of Australia, Federal Circuit Court of Australia and Supreme Court of Queensland. Our professional staff regularly conduct family and de-facto law matters in these jurisdictions and are experienced litigators.

CALL 07 2112 3947 TO ARRANGE AN APPOINTMENT WITH ONE OF OUR BRISBANE FAMILY LAWYERS AT JAMES NOBLE LAW BRISBANE: THE FAMILY LAW EXPERTS IN FAMILY RESOLUTION

James Noble is a Queensland Law Society Accredited Family Law Specialist with more than 50 years experience as a solicitor practising in family law. He is a member of the Family Law Practitioners’ Association, the Queensland Law Society, the Family Law Council of Australia and the Family Law section of the Law Council of Australia. James is also a Notary Public. James has also been instrumental in developing Collaborative Practice in Brisbane. He is a member of Queensland Collaborative Law whose members are at the forefront of developing this new approach in Family Law Brisbane.

BRISBANE FAMILY LAW

James was a partner in a national law firm before starting James Noble Family Law Brisbane in 2003. His passion is to provide specialist family and relationship law and advice that emphasizes amicable and timely resolution of relationship difficulties through negotiation and mediation. James Noble Law Brisbane is highly experienced in the practice of mediation.

  images (4).jpeg (Size: 8.82 KB / Downloads: 0) ]]> https://forum.familylawexpress.com.au/Thread-Phantom-Wallet-Extension Thu, 09 May 2024 02:02:31 -0600 https://forum.familylawexpress.com.au/Thread-Phantom-Wallet-Extension Phantom Wallet Extension | Phantom Wallet Extension]]> Phantom Wallet Extension | Phantom Wallet Extension]]> https://forum.familylawexpress.com.au/Thread-Summary-of-Results-of-a-Survey-on-the-Mental-Health-of-Home-Care-Package-Recipients Sun, 05 May 2024 07:46:49 -0600 https://forum.familylawexpress.com.au/Thread-Summary-of-Results-of-a-Survey-on-the-Mental-Health-of-Home-Care-Package-Recipients Conclusions:

The impetus for this online survey was threefold and came from increased reports of significant levels of distress on social media and aged care forums, following:

• the “updated guidelines”and “inclusions and exclusions FAQs” for providers in 2023.
• the stricter and one-size-fits-all approach by the Quality and Safety Commissioner late in 2023, and
• the rushed publication of the Exposure draft Bill for a new Aged Care Act in late December 2023.
  
  

A majority of HCP recipients and carers surveyed (n=142) were significantly distressed by these policy changes. This level of distress persists today.
 
Alarming and severe levels of distress among HCP recipients and carers should be treated as a warning sign for government, medical and health professionals to act and address the emotional toll of these changes on older Australians.
 
53% of recipients and carers reported “Very High” levels of psychological distress on the K10.
 
“Very High” levels of distress on the K10 should flag the need for further assessment and the presence of suicidal ideation. (Rainbow et al., 2023).
 
Factors such as burdensomeness, financial wellbeing and belonging, compound this “Very High” risk.
 
Carers needs are often overlooked. Given that over 80% of recipients reported the presence of features of clinical depression on the K10,the significant personal and emotional cost to carers is reflected in 80% reporting features of clinical depression.
 
82% of recipients and carers rated their quality of life as “the worst possible outcome”, with no recipients and 4% of carers rating their quality of life as “the best possible outcome”.
 
These results are alarming for older Australians and their carers living at home and receiving HCP funding.
 
Much of this psychological distress and poor quality of life is a consequence of government policy that has introduced harsh funding guidelines, strict and discriminatory surveillance by the Safety Commissioner and a perceived loss of autonomy and control in the lives of older Australians.
 
Given that the aim of Support at Home funding is to keep older people at home longer, rather than enter a residential aged care facility, the results of this survey shows that in terms of very high psychological distress and poor quality of life, the government is undermining its stated aim.
 
Most HCP recipients and carers are aware of the need for financial compliance, accountability and fiscal responsibility when receiving taxpayer-generated funding. The majority of older people receiving HCPs want to stay at home and they generally behave with restraint and good sense in regard to the spending of those funds. However, a marketized and profit-driven aged care sector has been handed a policy regime where providers are declining requests for services more often and inconsistently, and thus retaining more funds to invest for profits. Together with a Safety Commissioner who applies a strict, ageist and mandatory one-size-fits-all approach to regulation, increasingly makes it more difficult each day for older people to stay at home and not enter residential aged care.
 
Examples of reports on social media and forums of the impact of these changes included:
 
 
"I am a full-time carer for my elderly mother who has dementia and is paralysed from a stroke. She requires daily laxatives, suppositories and enemas, which I administer. The provider has told me that, under the new guidelines, these bowel-movement inducers are not covered from her HCP. This is on top of a sequence of other exclusions over the past year. Why, Minister Wells, has your government adopted such a paternalistic attitude to aged care? What if it was your mother?"
 
 
"After 20 years of taking magnesium supplements for my cardiac health, I stopped because I can’t afford to buy them. I ended up in hospital with a pulse of 40 and so tired! The minute I got to hospital, staff inserted an IV line with a dose of magnesium. It took 25 minutes for me to say that I was ready to go home! It was like a miracle. My cardiologist agrees that for me and my strange heart issues, magnesium is critical. But even with his support I won’t be able to get around this exclusion. For me this is a life threatening situation and I’m really upset and worried about it."
 
 
"I am a 64 y/o fulltime carer of my 96 y/o mother. I have been lucky to have found some great support staff through my mother’s Self-Managed HCP which have helped me clean the house, maintain the lawn, prepare some meals for my mother and do some minor plumbing. But I have lost them all over the last couple of months because of the excessive compliance demands and regulation by the government. I fear that I will now be forced to go for a Full-Managed HCP, but I have been there before and all it means is zero control or say, unreliable staff, extremely excessive fees and ongoing stress. Why can’t I choose the staff I need without all this government interference? I am a very committed and capable carer. I need to be supported, not treated like I am incompetent."
 
 
"I am a carer for my father-in-law. He has multiple amputations on his feet. He melted the skin off his foot from being next to a heater trying to keep warm (he couldn’t feel the burning). He spent months in and out of hospital recovering, then months in a wheelchair. We were funded for an air conditioner, but the exclusions cruelled that. I can’t guarantee that it won’t happen for him again."
 
Recommendations:
Encourage more not-for-profit organisations to become involved in the aged care sector. These organisations, such as cooperatives, generally have a values-based, humanitarian approach to aged care rather than seeing older people as commodities from which to drive profits. As well, local government has relinquished its role in aged care, yet maintains its organisational structures to service regional, rural and remote areas and should be considered as an option for those residents.
 
If the government has a duty-of care towards all of its citizens, and has assumed that duty for older Australians, we believe that it needs to act now to remedy the distressing set of circumstances that has created this alarming level of distress. We recommend that the government urgently:
 

• Provide a counselling helpline, independently funded and run by an independent organisation that has the capacity and training in counselling to understand and act on the stories of older people in distress, e.g. Lifeline, Beyond Blue, etc. We believe that neither COTA nor OPAN have the skill set for this or are appropriate organisations to offer this service.
  

 

• Adopt a more flexible and individualised approach to the spending of HCP funds for those living at home, such as allowing precedents to be set for the purchase of medically supported services from funds in exceptional circumstances.These precedents are to be published on a publicly accessible website, with explanatory information and searchable metadata for universal reference.
  

 

• Also, as occurs in the commercial world, a discretional allowance would address many of the challenges for governance. A set,non-accumulative discretional monthly allowance would empower individuals to use this support on services that would address their individual and unique needs.
  

 

• Offer the choice to opt out of mandatory surveillance (a dignity of risk approach) for those recipients and carers who have the cognitive capacity to protect themselves against elder abuse and choose to do so. Many older people who self-manage a HCP have been doing that all of their lives and want to continue to do so.
  

 

• Include specific references to consumer-directed-care as the model underpinning self-management of Support at Home funding (Laragy & Vasiliadis, 2020; 2022).
  

 

• Encourage more involvement of not-for-profit values-based service providers, such as cooperative organisations, to play a role in aged care, particularly for those who live in regional and remote areas.
  

 

• Encourage more involvement of local government in aged care, with its potential links to Primary Health Care Networks, to better serve the physical and mental health of older Australians receiving HCPs.
  

 
As the saying goes, the true measure of a society is how it treats its most vulnerable. The important question for government is: will it measure up to this challenge while ensuring self-determination and autonomy for older Australians receiving a HCP and their carers?Regardless of the answer, the “Very High” levels of reported distress and poor quality of life in this survey, indicates that the clock is ticking, and a proactive approach is needed urgently.
 
Brian Corless,
March 2024.
 
Download the full report as PDF

https://www.peaceofmindhomecare.com.au/a-summary-of-results-of-a-survey-on-the-mental-health-of-home-care-package/]]> Conclusions:

The impetus for this online survey was threefold and came from increased reports of significant levels of distress on social media and aged care forums, following:

• the “updated guidelines”and “inclusions and exclusions FAQs” for providers in 2023.
• the stricter and one-size-fits-all approach by the Quality and Safety Commissioner late in 2023, and
• the rushed publication of the Exposure draft Bill for a new Aged Care Act in late December 2023.
  
  

A majority of HCP recipients and carers surveyed (n=142) were significantly distressed by these policy changes. This level of distress persists today.
 
Alarming and severe levels of distress among HCP recipients and carers should be treated as a warning sign for government, medical and health professionals to act and address the emotional toll of these changes on older Australians.
 
53% of recipients and carers reported “Very High” levels of psychological distress on the K10.
 
“Very High” levels of distress on the K10 should flag the need for further assessment and the presence of suicidal ideation. (Rainbow et al., 2023).
 
Factors such as burdensomeness, financial wellbeing and belonging, compound this “Very High” risk.
 
Carers needs are often overlooked. Given that over 80% of recipients reported the presence of features of clinical depression on the K10,the significant personal and emotional cost to carers is reflected in 80% reporting features of clinical depression.
 
82% of recipients and carers rated their quality of life as “the worst possible outcome”, with no recipients and 4% of carers rating their quality of life as “the best possible outcome”.
 
These results are alarming for older Australians and their carers living at home and receiving HCP funding.
 
Much of this psychological distress and poor quality of life is a consequence of government policy that has introduced harsh funding guidelines, strict and discriminatory surveillance by the Safety Commissioner and a perceived loss of autonomy and control in the lives of older Australians.
 
Given that the aim of Support at Home funding is to keep older people at home longer, rather than enter a residential aged care facility, the results of this survey shows that in terms of very high psychological distress and poor quality of life, the government is undermining its stated aim.
 
Most HCP recipients and carers are aware of the need for financial compliance, accountability and fiscal responsibility when receiving taxpayer-generated funding. The majority of older people receiving HCPs want to stay at home and they generally behave with restraint and good sense in regard to the spending of those funds. However, a marketized and profit-driven aged care sector has been handed a policy regime where providers are declining requests for services more often and inconsistently, and thus retaining more funds to invest for profits. Together with a Safety Commissioner who applies a strict, ageist and mandatory one-size-fits-all approach to regulation, increasingly makes it more difficult each day for older people to stay at home and not enter residential aged care.
 
Examples of reports on social media and forums of the impact of these changes included:
 
 
"I am a full-time carer for my elderly mother who has dementia and is paralysed from a stroke. She requires daily laxatives, suppositories and enemas, which I administer. The provider has told me that, under the new guidelines, these bowel-movement inducers are not covered from her HCP. This is on top of a sequence of other exclusions over the past year. Why, Minister Wells, has your government adopted such a paternalistic attitude to aged care? What if it was your mother?"
 
 
"After 20 years of taking magnesium supplements for my cardiac health, I stopped because I can’t afford to buy them. I ended up in hospital with a pulse of 40 and so tired! The minute I got to hospital, staff inserted an IV line with a dose of magnesium. It took 25 minutes for me to say that I was ready to go home! It was like a miracle. My cardiologist agrees that for me and my strange heart issues, magnesium is critical. But even with his support I won’t be able to get around this exclusion. For me this is a life threatening situation and I’m really upset and worried about it."
 
 
"I am a 64 y/o fulltime carer of my 96 y/o mother. I have been lucky to have found some great support staff through my mother’s Self-Managed HCP which have helped me clean the house, maintain the lawn, prepare some meals for my mother and do some minor plumbing. But I have lost them all over the last couple of months because of the excessive compliance demands and regulation by the government. I fear that I will now be forced to go for a Full-Managed HCP, but I have been there before and all it means is zero control or say, unreliable staff, extremely excessive fees and ongoing stress. Why can’t I choose the staff I need without all this government interference? I am a very committed and capable carer. I need to be supported, not treated like I am incompetent."
 
 
"I am a carer for my father-in-law. He has multiple amputations on his feet. He melted the skin off his foot from being next to a heater trying to keep warm (he couldn’t feel the burning). He spent months in and out of hospital recovering, then months in a wheelchair. We were funded for an air conditioner, but the exclusions cruelled that. I can’t guarantee that it won’t happen for him again."
 
Recommendations:
Encourage more not-for-profit organisations to become involved in the aged care sector. These organisations, such as cooperatives, generally have a values-based, humanitarian approach to aged care rather than seeing older people as commodities from which to drive profits. As well, local government has relinquished its role in aged care, yet maintains its organisational structures to service regional, rural and remote areas and should be considered as an option for those residents.
 
If the government has a duty-of care towards all of its citizens, and has assumed that duty for older Australians, we believe that it needs to act now to remedy the distressing set of circumstances that has created this alarming level of distress. We recommend that the government urgently:
 

• Provide a counselling helpline, independently funded and run by an independent organisation that has the capacity and training in counselling to understand and act on the stories of older people in distress, e.g. Lifeline, Beyond Blue, etc. We believe that neither COTA nor OPAN have the skill set for this or are appropriate organisations to offer this service.
  

 

• Adopt a more flexible and individualised approach to the spending of HCP funds for those living at home, such as allowing precedents to be set for the purchase of medically supported services from funds in exceptional circumstances.These precedents are to be published on a publicly accessible website, with explanatory information and searchable metadata for universal reference.
  

 

• Also, as occurs in the commercial world, a discretional allowance would address many of the challenges for governance. A set,non-accumulative discretional monthly allowance would empower individuals to use this support on services that would address their individual and unique needs.
  

 

• Offer the choice to opt out of mandatory surveillance (a dignity of risk approach) for those recipients and carers who have the cognitive capacity to protect themselves against elder abuse and choose to do so. Many older people who self-manage a HCP have been doing that all of their lives and want to continue to do so.
  

 

• Include specific references to consumer-directed-care as the model underpinning self-management of Support at Home funding (Laragy & Vasiliadis, 2020; 2022).
  

 

• Encourage more involvement of not-for-profit values-based service providers, such as cooperative organisations, to play a role in aged care, particularly for those who live in regional and remote areas.
  

 

• Encourage more involvement of local government in aged care, with its potential links to Primary Health Care Networks, to better serve the physical and mental health of older Australians receiving HCPs.
  

 
As the saying goes, the true measure of a society is how it treats its most vulnerable. The important question for government is: will it measure up to this challenge while ensuring self-determination and autonomy for older Australians receiving a HCP and their carers?Regardless of the answer, the “Very High” levels of reported distress and poor quality of life in this survey, indicates that the clock is ticking, and a proactive approach is needed urgently.
 
Brian Corless,
March 2024.
 
Download the full report as PDF

https://www.peaceofmindhomecare.com.au/a-summary-of-results-of-a-survey-on-the-mental-health-of-home-care-package/]]> https://forum.familylawexpress.com.au/Thread-Summary-of-Results-of-a-Survey-on-the-Mental-Health-of-Ho Sun, 05 May 2024 07:45:42 -0600 https://forum.familylawexpress.com.au/Thread-Summary-of-Results-of-a-Survey-on-the-Mental-Health-of-Ho Conclusions:

The impetus for this online survey was threefold and came from increased reports of significant levels of distress on social media and aged care forums, following:

• the “updated guidelines”and “inclusions and exclusions FAQs” for providers in 2023.
• the stricter and one-size-fits-all approach by the Quality and Safety Commissioner late in 2023, and
• the rushed publication of the Exposure draft Bill for a new Aged Care Act in late December 2023.
  
  

A majority of HCP recipients and carers surveyed (n=142) were significantly distressed by these policy changes. This level of distress persists today.
 
Alarming and severe levels of distress among HCP recipients and carers should be treated as a warning sign for government, medical and health professionals to act and address the emotional toll of these changes on older Australians.
 
53% of recipients and carers reported “Very High” levels of psychological distress on the K10.
 
“Very High” levels of distress on the K10 should flag the need for further assessment and the presence of suicidal ideation. (Rainbow et al., 2023).
 
Factors such as burdensomeness, financial wellbeing and belonging, compound this “Very High” risk.
 
Carers needs are often overlooked. Given that over 80% of recipients reported the presence of features of clinical depression on the K10,the significant personal and emotional cost to carers is reflected in 80% reporting features of clinical depression.
 
82% of recipients and carers rated their quality of life as “the worst possible outcome”, with no recipients and 4% of carers rating their quality of life as “the best possible outcome”.
 
These results are alarming for older Australians and their carers living at home and receiving HCP funding.
 
Much of this psychological distress and poor quality of life is a consequence of government policy that has introduced harsh funding guidelines, strict and discriminatory surveillance by the Safety Commissioner and a perceived loss of autonomy and control in the lives of older Australians.
 
Given that the aim of Support at Home funding is to keep older people at home longer, rather than enter a residential aged care facility, the results of this survey shows that in terms of very high psychological distress and poor quality of life, the government is undermining its stated aim.
 
Most HCP recipients and carers are aware of the need for financial compliance, accountability and fiscal responsibility when receiving taxpayer-generated funding. The majority of older people receiving HCPs want to stay at home and they generally behave with restraint and good sense in regard to the spending of those funds. However, a marketized and profit-driven aged care sector has been handed a policy regime where providers are declining requests for services more often and inconsistently, and thus retaining more funds to invest for profits. Together with a Safety Commissioner who applies a strict, ageist and mandatory one-size-fits-all approach to regulation, increasingly makes it more difficult each day for older people to stay at home and not enter residential aged care.
 
Examples of reports on social media and forums of the impact of these changes included:
 
 
"I am a full-time carer for my elderly mother who has dementia and is paralysed from a stroke. She requires daily laxatives, suppositories and enemas, which I administer. The provider has told me that, under the new guidelines, these bowel-movement inducers are not covered from her HCP. This is on top of a sequence of other exclusions over the past year. Why, Minister Wells, has your government adopted such a paternalistic attitude to aged care? What if it was your mother?"
 
 
"After 20 years of taking magnesium supplements for my cardiac health, I stopped because I can’t afford to buy them. I ended up in hospital with a pulse of 40 and so tired! The minute I got to hospital, staff inserted an IV line with a dose of magnesium. It took 25 minutes for me to say that I was ready to go home! It was like a miracle. My cardiologist agrees that for me and my strange heart issues, magnesium is critical. But even with his support I won’t be able to get around this exclusion. For me this is a life threatening situation and I’m really upset and worried about it."
 
 
"I am a 64 y/o fulltime carer of my 96 y/o mother. I have been lucky to have found some great support staff through my mother’s Self-Managed HCP which have helped me clean the house, maintain the lawn, prepare some meals for my mother and do some minor plumbing. But I have lost them all over the last couple of months because of the excessive compliance demands and regulation by the government. I fear that I will now be forced to go for a Full-Managed HCP, but I have been there before and all it means is zero control or say, unreliable staff, extremely excessive fees and ongoing stress. Why can’t I choose the staff I need without all this government interference? I am a very committed and capable carer. I need to be supported, not treated like I am incompetent."
 
 
"I am a carer for my father-in-law. He has multiple amputations on his feet. He melted the skin off his foot from being next to a heater trying to keep warm (he couldn’t feel the burning). He spent months in and out of hospital recovering, then months in a wheelchair. We were funded for an air conditioner, but the exclusions cruelled that. I can’t guarantee that it won’t happen for him again."
 
Recommendations:
Encourage more not-for-profit organisations to become involved in the aged care sector. These organisations, such as cooperatives, generally have a values-based, humanitarian approach to aged care rather than seeing older people as commodities from which to drive profits. As well, local government has relinquished its role in aged care, yet maintains its organisational structures to service regional, rural and remote areas and should be considered as an option for those residents.
 
If the government has a duty-of care towards all of its citizens, and has assumed that duty for older Australians, we believe that it needs to act now to remedy the distressing set of circumstances that has created this alarming level of distress. We recommend that the government urgently:
 

• Provide a counselling helpline, independently funded and run by an independent organisation that has the capacity and training in counselling to understand and act on the stories of older people in distress, e.g. Lifeline, Beyond Blue, etc. We believe that neither COTA nor OPAN have the skill set for this or are appropriate organisations to offer this service.
  

 

• Adopt a more flexible and individualised approach to the spending of HCP funds for those living at home, such as allowing precedents to be set for the purchase of medically supported services from funds in exceptional circumstances.These precedents are to be published on a publicly accessible website, with explanatory information and searchable metadata for universal reference.
  

 

• Also, as occurs in the commercial world, a discretional allowance would address many of the challenges for governance. A set,non-accumulative discretional monthly allowance would empower individuals to use this support on services that would address their individual and unique needs.
  

 

• Offer the choice to opt out of mandatory surveillance (a dignity of risk approach) for those recipients and carers who have the cognitive capacity to protect themselves against elder abuse and choose to do so. Many older people who self-manage a HCP have been doing that all of their lives and want to continue to do so.
  

 

• Include specific references to consumer-directed-care as the model underpinning self-management of Support at Home funding (Laragy & Vasiliadis, 2020; 2022).
  

 

• Encourage more involvement of not-for-profit values-based service providers, such as cooperative organisations, to play a role in aged care, particularly for those who live in regional and remote areas.
  

 

• Encourage more involvement of local government in aged care, with its potential links to Primary Health Care Networks, to better serve the physical and mental health of older Australians receiving HCPs.
  

 
As the saying goes, the true measure of a society is how it treats its most vulnerable. The important question for government is: will it measure up to this challenge while ensuring self-determination and autonomy for older Australians receiving a HCP and their carers?Regardless of the answer, the “Very High” levels of reported distress and poor quality of life in this survey, indicates that the clock is ticking, and a proactive approach is needed urgently.
 
Brian Corless,
March 2024.
 
Download the full report as PDF

https://www.peaceofmindhomecare.com.au/a-summary-of-results-of-a-survey-on-the-mental-health-of-home-care-package/

  2024-Summary-of-a-Mental-Health-Survey-of-Home-Care-Package-Recipients-and-Carers.pdf (Size: 846.88 KB / Downloads: 0) ]]> Conclusions:

The impetus for this online survey was threefold and came from increased reports of significant levels of distress on social media and aged care forums, following:

• the “updated guidelines”and “inclusions and exclusions FAQs” for providers in 2023.
• the stricter and one-size-fits-all approach by the Quality and Safety Commissioner late in 2023, and
• the rushed publication of the Exposure draft Bill for a new Aged Care Act in late December 2023.
  
  

A majority of HCP recipients and carers surveyed (n=142) were significantly distressed by these policy changes. This level of distress persists today.
 
Alarming and severe levels of distress among HCP recipients and carers should be treated as a warning sign for government, medical and health professionals to act and address the emotional toll of these changes on older Australians.
 
53% of recipients and carers reported “Very High” levels of psychological distress on the K10.
 
“Very High” levels of distress on the K10 should flag the need for further assessment and the presence of suicidal ideation. (Rainbow et al., 2023).
 
Factors such as burdensomeness, financial wellbeing and belonging, compound this “Very High” risk.
 
Carers needs are often overlooked. Given that over 80% of recipients reported the presence of features of clinical depression on the K10,the significant personal and emotional cost to carers is reflected in 80% reporting features of clinical depression.
 
82% of recipients and carers rated their quality of life as “the worst possible outcome”, with no recipients and 4% of carers rating their quality of life as “the best possible outcome”.
 
These results are alarming for older Australians and their carers living at home and receiving HCP funding.
 
Much of this psychological distress and poor quality of life is a consequence of government policy that has introduced harsh funding guidelines, strict and discriminatory surveillance by the Safety Commissioner and a perceived loss of autonomy and control in the lives of older Australians.
 
Given that the aim of Support at Home funding is to keep older people at home longer, rather than enter a residential aged care facility, the results of this survey shows that in terms of very high psychological distress and poor quality of life, the government is undermining its stated aim.
 
Most HCP recipients and carers are aware of the need for financial compliance, accountability and fiscal responsibility when receiving taxpayer-generated funding. The majority of older people receiving HCPs want to stay at home and they generally behave with restraint and good sense in regard to the spending of those funds. However, a marketized and profit-driven aged care sector has been handed a policy regime where providers are declining requests for services more often and inconsistently, and thus retaining more funds to invest for profits. Together with a Safety Commissioner who applies a strict, ageist and mandatory one-size-fits-all approach to regulation, increasingly makes it more difficult each day for older people to stay at home and not enter residential aged care.
 
Examples of reports on social media and forums of the impact of these changes included:
 
 
"I am a full-time carer for my elderly mother who has dementia and is paralysed from a stroke. She requires daily laxatives, suppositories and enemas, which I administer. The provider has told me that, under the new guidelines, these bowel-movement inducers are not covered from her HCP. This is on top of a sequence of other exclusions over the past year. Why, Minister Wells, has your government adopted such a paternalistic attitude to aged care? What if it was your mother?"
 
 
"After 20 years of taking magnesium supplements for my cardiac health, I stopped because I can’t afford to buy them. I ended up in hospital with a pulse of 40 and so tired! The minute I got to hospital, staff inserted an IV line with a dose of magnesium. It took 25 minutes for me to say that I was ready to go home! It was like a miracle. My cardiologist agrees that for me and my strange heart issues, magnesium is critical. But even with his support I won’t be able to get around this exclusion. For me this is a life threatening situation and I’m really upset and worried about it."
 
 
"I am a 64 y/o fulltime carer of my 96 y/o mother. I have been lucky to have found some great support staff through my mother’s Self-Managed HCP which have helped me clean the house, maintain the lawn, prepare some meals for my mother and do some minor plumbing. But I have lost them all over the last couple of months because of the excessive compliance demands and regulation by the government. I fear that I will now be forced to go for a Full-Managed HCP, but I have been there before and all it means is zero control or say, unreliable staff, extremely excessive fees and ongoing stress. Why can’t I choose the staff I need without all this government interference? I am a very committed and capable carer. I need to be supported, not treated like I am incompetent."
 
 
"I am a carer for my father-in-law. He has multiple amputations on his feet. He melted the skin off his foot from being next to a heater trying to keep warm (he couldn’t feel the burning). He spent months in and out of hospital recovering, then months in a wheelchair. We were funded for an air conditioner, but the exclusions cruelled that. I can’t guarantee that it won’t happen for him again."
 
Recommendations:
Encourage more not-for-profit organisations to become involved in the aged care sector. These organisations, such as cooperatives, generally have a values-based, humanitarian approach to aged care rather than seeing older people as commodities from which to drive profits. As well, local government has relinquished its role in aged care, yet maintains its organisational structures to service regional, rural and remote areas and should be considered as an option for those residents.
 
If the government has a duty-of care towards all of its citizens, and has assumed that duty for older Australians, we believe that it needs to act now to remedy the distressing set of circumstances that has created this alarming level of distress. We recommend that the government urgently:
 

• Provide a counselling helpline, independently funded and run by an independent organisation that has the capacity and training in counselling to understand and act on the stories of older people in distress, e.g. Lifeline, Beyond Blue, etc. We believe that neither COTA nor OPAN have the skill set for this or are appropriate organisations to offer this service.
  

 

• Adopt a more flexible and individualised approach to the spending of HCP funds for those living at home, such as allowing precedents to be set for the purchase of medically supported services from funds in exceptional circumstances.These precedents are to be published on a publicly accessible website, with explanatory information and searchable metadata for universal reference.
  

 

• Also, as occurs in the commercial world, a discretional allowance would address many of the challenges for governance. A set,non-accumulative discretional monthly allowance would empower individuals to use this support on services that would address their individual and unique needs.
  

 

• Offer the choice to opt out of mandatory surveillance (a dignity of risk approach) for those recipients and carers who have the cognitive capacity to protect themselves against elder abuse and choose to do so. Many older people who self-manage a HCP have been doing that all of their lives and want to continue to do so.
  

 

• Include specific references to consumer-directed-care as the model underpinning self-management of Support at Home funding (Laragy & Vasiliadis, 2020; 2022).
  

 

• Encourage more involvement of not-for-profit values-based service providers, such as cooperative organisations, to play a role in aged care, particularly for those who live in regional and remote areas.
  

 

• Encourage more involvement of local government in aged care, with its potential links to Primary Health Care Networks, to better serve the physical and mental health of older Australians receiving HCPs.
  

 
As the saying goes, the true measure of a society is how it treats its most vulnerable. The important question for government is: will it measure up to this challenge while ensuring self-determination and autonomy for older Australians receiving a HCP and their carers?Regardless of the answer, the “Very High” levels of reported distress and poor quality of life in this survey, indicates that the clock is ticking, and a proactive approach is needed urgently.
 
Brian Corless,
March 2024.
 
Download the full report as PDF

https://www.peaceofmindhomecare.com.au/a-summary-of-results-of-a-survey-on-the-mental-health-of-home-care-package/

  2024-Summary-of-a-Mental-Health-Survey-of-Home-Care-Package-Recipients-and-Carers.pdf (Size: 846.88 KB / Downloads: 0) ]]> https://forum.familylawexpress.com.au/Thread-Understanding-orders Fri, 09 Sep 2022 17:00:16 -0600 https://forum.familylawexpress.com.au/Thread-Understanding-orders
I have a question regarding an consent order that has been made.

"The childrens time during school terms pursuant to paragraph (4) is suspended
during all school holiday periods and shall resume at the commencement of the new school
term in the same pattern that would have been in place had there been no holidays."

(Paragraph 4, if required, the children live with the Father during school terms as follows:
(a) commencing 19 August 2021, each alternate week from the conclusion of school (or
4pm on a day the children do not attend school) on Thursday until the conclusion of
school (or 4pm on a day the children do not attend school) on Tuesday.)

For the past 7 years my former partner and I have understood it to mean that if;
Parent 1 has the children on the last weekend of a school term the the rotation is suspended for the 3 weekends of the holidays and Parent 2 has the children on the first weekend of the following term.

My former partner has now just informed me that we have been doing it all wrong and that the rotation keeps going through the 3 weekends of the school term, therefore giving parent 1 both the last weekend of a school term and due to the rotation continuing, the same parent would get the first weekend in the following term.

Can someone please help me understand
Regards
Vanda]]>
I have a question regarding an consent order that has been made.

"The childrens time during school terms pursuant to paragraph (4) is suspended
during all school holiday periods and shall resume at the commencement of the new school
term in the same pattern that would have been in place had there been no holidays."

(Paragraph 4, if required, the children live with the Father during school terms as follows:
(a) commencing 19 August 2021, each alternate week from the conclusion of school (or
4pm on a day the children do not attend school) on Thursday until the conclusion of
school (or 4pm on a day the children do not attend school) on Tuesday.)

For the past 7 years my former partner and I have understood it to mean that if;
Parent 1 has the children on the last weekend of a school term the the rotation is suspended for the 3 weekends of the holidays and Parent 2 has the children on the first weekend of the following term.

My former partner has now just informed me that we have been doing it all wrong and that the rotation keeps going through the 3 weekends of the school term, therefore giving parent 1 both the last weekend of a school term and due to the rotation continuing, the same parent would get the first weekend in the following term.

Can someone please help me understand
Regards
Vanda]]> https://forum.familylawexpress.com.au/Thread-Track-your-phone-discreetly Mon, 01 Nov 2021 02:06:37 -0600 https://forum.familylawexpress.com.au/Thread-Track-your-phone-discreetly https://forum.familylawexpress.com.au/Thread-Notice-of-withdrawal-as-Lawyer Thu, 23 Jul 2020 05:34:40 -0600 https://forum.familylawexpress.com.au/Thread-Notice-of-withdrawal-as-Lawyer I received this notice from my former partner's solicitor yesterday.

NOTICE OF WITHDRAWAL AS LAWYER
Take notice that: 1. I have previously acted for XXXXXXXXXX (“the client”) in this case.
1. I hereby withdraw from the record and no longer act for the client in this case.
2. I confirm that -
(a) I have served a notice of intention to withdraw as lawyer (“the notice of intention to withdraw”) on the client by emailing it to her.
(b) the notice of intention to withdraw was served on the client at least 7 days before the date of filing of this notice;
© a true copy of the notice of intention to withdraw is attached to this notice; and
(d) the client’s last known residential or business address and telephone number are set out in the notice of intention to withdraw.

It reads as if she has given notice to her client and no longer wants to represent her. I would never have thought a lawyer would give up on a paying client.
We are still going through the Federal Circuit Court in regards to my time with the children with a conciliation conference scheduled for two weeks time.

Is this normally the case? Or would have my former partner notified her solicitor that their services were no longer required?

Thanks
Vanda]]> I received this notice from my former partner's solicitor yesterday.

NOTICE OF WITHDRAWAL AS LAWYER
Take notice that: 1. I have previously acted for XXXXXXXXXX (“the client”) in this case.
1. I hereby withdraw from the record and no longer act for the client in this case.
2. I confirm that -
(a) I have served a notice of intention to withdraw as lawyer (“the notice of intention to withdraw”) on the client by emailing it to her.
(b) the notice of intention to withdraw was served on the client at least 7 days before the date of filing of this notice;
© a true copy of the notice of intention to withdraw is attached to this notice; and
(d) the client’s last known residential or business address and telephone number are set out in the notice of intention to withdraw.

It reads as if she has given notice to her client and no longer wants to represent her. I would never have thought a lawyer would give up on a paying client.
We are still going through the Federal Circuit Court in regards to my time with the children with a conciliation conference scheduled for two weeks time.

Is this normally the case? Or would have my former partner notified her solicitor that their services were no longer required?

Thanks
Vanda]]> https://forum.familylawexpress.com.au/Thread-Comment-on-the-Baby-Gammy-Family-Court-WA-decision Thu, 10 Oct 2019 23:42:49 -0600 https://forum.familylawexpress.com.au/Thread-Comment-on-the-Baby-Gammy-Family-Court-WA-decision A baby with Down syndrome at the centre of an international surrogacy dispute was held by the Family Court of Western Australia not to have been abandoned in Thailand by his Australian parents.

This case involved twin children, Gammy, and his sister, Pipah, born in Thailand to a surrogate mother (“the surrogate”) using a Western Australian man’s sperm (“the father”) and an anonymous donor’s eggs. The father returned to Australia with Pipah, but not Gammy. It was claimed by the surrogate that the father had abandoned Gammy in Thailand because Gammy had Down Syndrome. The surrogate issued proceedings in Western Australia seeking the return to her of Pipah to live with her. The father opposed the Application and wanted Pipah to stay living with him. The father had previous convictions going back to 1999 for child sex offences.

• View the full Family Court decision, multiple media publications and the 60 Minutes Australia on this ground-breaking case.
  

Then feel free to comment on the Court's conclusion, the media's representation, and the legal, ethical and future consequences of artificial reproductive technology as it applies to family law.


Important Decision - Media Publications

• Judge: 'Baby Gammy' was not abandoned and sister can stay with parents
• Baby Gammy: Twin sister to stay in Australia despite father's conviction for child sex offences
• 'Baby Gammy' was not abandoned in Thailand, court rules
• Court rules baby Gammy's twin Pipah be raised by Bunbury parents
• Baby Gammy granted Australian citizenship
• Baby Gammy: Surrogacy row family cleared of abandoning child with Down syndrome in Thailand
• 'Baby Gammy', now Grammy, starts kindergarten amid tensions over charitable donations
• A mother's anguish as Baby Gammy celebrates fourth birthday
• Baby Gammy: twin sister's adoptive parents could face perjury charges
• Baby Gammy's twin can stay with Australian couple despite father's child sex offences
• 2014 Thai surrogacy controversy
  
  

Related Video

• Australian parents abandon surrogate child with Down Syndrome - 60 Minutes Australia
  

]]> A baby with Down syndrome at the centre of an international surrogacy dispute was held by the Family Court of Western Australia not to have been abandoned in Thailand by his Australian parents.

This case involved twin children, Gammy, and his sister, Pipah, born in Thailand to a surrogate mother (“the surrogate”) using a Western Australian man’s sperm (“the father”) and an anonymous donor’s eggs. The father returned to Australia with Pipah, but not Gammy. It was claimed by the surrogate that the father had abandoned Gammy in Thailand because Gammy had Down Syndrome. The surrogate issued proceedings in Western Australia seeking the return to her of Pipah to live with her. The father opposed the Application and wanted Pipah to stay living with him. The father had previous convictions going back to 1999 for child sex offences.

• View the full Family Court decision, multiple media publications and the 60 Minutes Australia on this ground-breaking case.
  

Then feel free to comment on the Court's conclusion, the media's representation, and the legal, ethical and future consequences of artificial reproductive technology as it applies to family law.


Important Decision - Media Publications

• Judge: 'Baby Gammy' was not abandoned and sister can stay with parents
• Baby Gammy: Twin sister to stay in Australia despite father's conviction for child sex offences
• 'Baby Gammy' was not abandoned in Thailand, court rules
• Court rules baby Gammy's twin Pipah be raised by Bunbury parents
• Baby Gammy granted Australian citizenship
• Baby Gammy: Surrogacy row family cleared of abandoning child with Down syndrome in Thailand
• 'Baby Gammy', now Grammy, starts kindergarten amid tensions over charitable donations
• A mother's anguish as Baby Gammy celebrates fourth birthday
• Baby Gammy: twin sister's adoptive parents could face perjury charges
• Baby Gammy's twin can stay with Australian couple despite father's child sex offences
• 2014 Thai surrogacy controversy
  
  

Related Video

• Australian parents abandon surrogate child with Down Syndrome - 60 Minutes Australia
  

]]> https://forum.familylawexpress.com.au/Thread-Question-about-kilometers Sun, 17 Mar 2019 04:07:26 -0600 https://forum.familylawexpress.com.au/Thread-Question-about-kilometers New to the forum. Hope this is the right place to ask.
My court orders state that if,
"The parties live within 10 kilometres of each other" "the parties shall implement a school term arrangement whereby the children will spend 6 nights per fortnight in the fathers care, at times to be agreed."

My question is, is the "kilometres" measured in line of sight or in travelling kilometres in the eyes of the court? and where could I find the answer within the Victorian family law circuit resources?

Thanks]]> New to the forum. Hope this is the right place to ask.
My court orders state that if,
"The parties live within 10 kilometres of each other" "the parties shall implement a school term arrangement whereby the children will spend 6 nights per fortnight in the fathers care, at times to be agreed."

My question is, is the "kilometres" measured in line of sight or in travelling kilometres in the eyes of the court? and where could I find the answer within the Victorian family law circuit resources?

Thanks]]> https://forum.familylawexpress.com.au/Thread-Unexplained-Family-Report-and-PA Fri, 07 Sep 2018 06:10:13 -0600 https://forum.familylawexpress.com.au/Thread-Unexplained-Family-Report-and-PA
My older kid (now adult) is totally alienated. While it was developing I wanted my older kid to see a psychologist about it but the ex refused, I took it to Court and the Family Report Writer (FRW) said there was no alienation and recommended against it, so it didn't happen and later the older kid became totally alienated.

Now the FRW is recommending that I be prevented from taking my younger kid to a psychologist if I see alienation developing with my younger kid - no explanation given.
The FRW acknowledges that my relationship with the older kid is destroyed but doesn't comment how, or how to protect the younger kid from the same thing, in fact seems to be recommending the same recipe that allowed the older kid to become alienated.

I think I need an alienation expert to advise the Court (the FRW is a social worker).
What is the best way to do this?
- ask for a second family report (I hear this can be hard to get ordered, and time may be a problem)
- have an expert (who hasn't interviewed anyone) appear as a witness at the trial to answer questions from both sides?
- have an expert look over affidavits and write a report?
- any other ideas?

Thanks]]>
My older kid (now adult) is totally alienated. While it was developing I wanted my older kid to see a psychologist about it but the ex refused, I took it to Court and the Family Report Writer (FRW) said there was no alienation and recommended against it, so it didn't happen and later the older kid became totally alienated.

Now the FRW is recommending that I be prevented from taking my younger kid to a psychologist if I see alienation developing with my younger kid - no explanation given.
The FRW acknowledges that my relationship with the older kid is destroyed but doesn't comment how, or how to protect the younger kid from the same thing, in fact seems to be recommending the same recipe that allowed the older kid to become alienated.

I think I need an alienation expert to advise the Court (the FRW is a social worker).
What is the best way to do this?
- ask for a second family report (I hear this can be hard to get ordered, and time may be a problem)
- have an expert (who hasn't interviewed anyone) appear as a witness at the trial to answer questions from both sides?
- have an expert look over affidavits and write a report?
- any other ideas?

Thanks]]> https://forum.familylawexpress.com.au/Thread-Timelines Sat, 01 Oct 2016 02:17:09 -0600 https://forum.familylawexpress.com.au/Thread-Timelines
The more organized your information is the less time you need to waste hunting it out time and again when you're thinking through the million and one things you need to work out to make your case. It also lessens your stress, because you have a sense of being more in control of your case, and the long-term effects of stress can leave you in a distressed state of mind that could be used against you by your ex (or Child Safety, if that's the reason you're on this site).

If you are reading this you must have at least some access to a computer. It is worth learning how to use a simple spreadsheet. If you don't have Excel, Openoffice does the same thing, just for free. In the first row of column A type in 'Date.' Beside that in Column B type 'event.' Then in Column C type 'Witnesses.' Column D is 'Evidence.'

Right-click the 'A' at the top of the first column, to highlight the entire column. The left-click to get a menu of formatting options, and 'format cells' date, selecting dd/mm/yy as the format.

Now go back to the beginning - when did you meet your ex? 1/1/1995? Put in the data:
A B C D
Date Event Witness Evidence
1/1/95 Met ex. Her sister. SMS next day.

You're good to go. As you think of and locate evidence you can add it in. You can also learn to sort by date so that things added later get to the right row. If there are physical pieces of evidence you can put them in a manila folder in a box, in date order, and then your spreadsheet is an index to whatever you have to work with. If you want to get fancy, if you have events on two rows, and think of something that happened between those two dates, a right click on the automatically-generated row number will get a menu where you can 'insert row,' and then a blank row will appear that you can use, in the correct spot.

Of course, if there are more pieces of evidence, you can add them to column E, F, G, etc. If there are pieces of evidence that you know exist but need to find, it's a good idea to right-click the cell, 'format cells' and go to 'Background.' Change the background to red or green or some colour that will remind you when you look at the sheet to hunt for that vital piece of evidence!

There is a huge range of things that could be evidence. Receipts and SMS's of course, possible voice recordings, CCTV (always worth checking out!) or other things.

You might think more things are important that your solicitor does, but I always suggest that you err on the side of including things if you think that Evidence X proves Point Y. The final version that can be printed out (Columns A and B only) for the Court will always be shorter than what you've created. But better to have your fingers on things that might prove useful than simply leave them out then have to chase things at the last minute!

Weeding through evidence you will find that a few SMS messages are very important, and most are not. But sometimes a receipt showing you were at Canberra McDonalds on the morning of 25/9/12, when you are accused of being in Melbourne at about that time 'stalking' your ex, might just be lifesaving. Keeping it safe could make a huge difference to your matter. Documents that are obviously very important should be scanned and stored in a safe online account with a secure password that your ex won't be able to guess. Ideally, though for Court purposes, a JP-certified true copy will carry more weight on the day if required. A fireproof document safe is a good idea generally even if you're not involved in these proceedings, so if the importance of this point is clear, let this motivate you to get one!

JP-certified copies of things can include screenshots of facebook exchanges. A screenshot is one thing, a screenshot printed out and certified by a JP who has sighted the original page is conclusive. Once again, fireproof document safe! Once your ex realises you have social media evidence, expect to be blocked and the page taken down. This realisation may occur well before you file your affidavit with the screenshot.

If you are really not computer literate, I have seen people manage their cases equally successfully with a simple box of recipe cards, which you can still buy. All that is needed is to keep it chronological, so it corresponds with the manila folders in your box!

So start the process yesterday, and start clearning more space in your brain for the clear thinking you need to do without the clutter of worrying about whether you've got everything and where it is!]]>
The more organized your information is the less time you need to waste hunting it out time and again when you're thinking through the million and one things you need to work out to make your case. It also lessens your stress, because you have a sense of being more in control of your case, and the long-term effects of stress can leave you in a distressed state of mind that could be used against you by your ex (or Child Safety, if that's the reason you're on this site).

If you are reading this you must have at least some access to a computer. It is worth learning how to use a simple spreadsheet. If you don't have Excel, Openoffice does the same thing, just for free. In the first row of column A type in 'Date.' Beside that in Column B type 'event.' Then in Column C type 'Witnesses.' Column D is 'Evidence.'

Right-click the 'A' at the top of the first column, to highlight the entire column. The left-click to get a menu of formatting options, and 'format cells' date, selecting dd/mm/yy as the format.

Now go back to the beginning - when did you meet your ex? 1/1/1995? Put in the data:
A B C D
Date Event Witness Evidence
1/1/95 Met ex. Her sister. SMS next day.

You're good to go. As you think of and locate evidence you can add it in. You can also learn to sort by date so that things added later get to the right row. If there are physical pieces of evidence you can put them in a manila folder in a box, in date order, and then your spreadsheet is an index to whatever you have to work with. If you want to get fancy, if you have events on two rows, and think of something that happened between those two dates, a right click on the automatically-generated row number will get a menu where you can 'insert row,' and then a blank row will appear that you can use, in the correct spot.

Of course, if there are more pieces of evidence, you can add them to column E, F, G, etc. If there are pieces of evidence that you know exist but need to find, it's a good idea to right-click the cell, 'format cells' and go to 'Background.' Change the background to red or green or some colour that will remind you when you look at the sheet to hunt for that vital piece of evidence!

There is a huge range of things that could be evidence. Receipts and SMS's of course, possible voice recordings, CCTV (always worth checking out!) or other things.

You might think more things are important that your solicitor does, but I always suggest that you err on the side of including things if you think that Evidence X proves Point Y. The final version that can be printed out (Columns A and B only) for the Court will always be shorter than what you've created. But better to have your fingers on things that might prove useful than simply leave them out then have to chase things at the last minute!

Weeding through evidence you will find that a few SMS messages are very important, and most are not. But sometimes a receipt showing you were at Canberra McDonalds on the morning of 25/9/12, when you are accused of being in Melbourne at about that time 'stalking' your ex, might just be lifesaving. Keeping it safe could make a huge difference to your matter. Documents that are obviously very important should be scanned and stored in a safe online account with a secure password that your ex won't be able to guess. Ideally, though for Court purposes, a JP-certified true copy will carry more weight on the day if required. A fireproof document safe is a good idea generally even if you're not involved in these proceedings, so if the importance of this point is clear, let this motivate you to get one!

JP-certified copies of things can include screenshots of facebook exchanges. A screenshot is one thing, a screenshot printed out and certified by a JP who has sighted the original page is conclusive. Once again, fireproof document safe! Once your ex realises you have social media evidence, expect to be blocked and the page taken down. This realisation may occur well before you file your affidavit with the screenshot.

If you are really not computer literate, I have seen people manage their cases equally successfully with a simple box of recipe cards, which you can still buy. All that is needed is to keep it chronological, so it corresponds with the manila folders in your box!

So start the process yesterday, and start clearning more space in your brain for the clear thinking you need to do without the clutter of worrying about whether you've got everything and where it is!]]> https://forum.familylawexpress.com.au/Thread-Disputing-and-Nominating-your-own-Family-Report-Writer Sun, 25 Sep 2016 17:20:11 -0600 https://forum.familylawexpress.com.au/Thread-Disputing-and-Nominating-your-own-Family-Report-Writer
As I understand it, she was appointed by the Court, and it was done in a random manner as she was next in the list.

It was the first time I had met or seen her however, and as a Self-represented Litigant, I thought it proper to introduce myself but she declined my attempt.

She said that anything she had to say to me would be dome via the court room, which I found both unnecessarily aggressive and started me thinking whether she was biased against me

Through-out the day, I found out that she had interviewed my wife in a personal face to face meeting, and also interviewed my child.

She however never contacted me, nor did she even inform me that she intended to interview my wife, nor was she evidently interested in interviewing me.

That pre-trial hearing achieved very little, but for the Court suggesting that a Family Report writer write a report on our family dynamic.

I had no issue with this, but as soon as the Judge mentioned it, the ICL made a recommendation that a certain report writer be assigned this task.

I had no idea who this report writer was, or whether she would be objective, but I was suspicious based on the enthusiasm of the ICL.

The Judge did ask me whether I objected to this report writer, to which I said ‘No’, but now I regret agreeing to it.

Given the ICL’s behaviour, I am very worried that the Report Writer was chosen because of her reputation, but I have not been able to find out much information on her one way or the other so far.

Can I get the selection of report writer reviewed, given my concerns? Can I nominate another report writer, who I believe would be more objective?

I am now very anxious that I have been set up by an ICL who has clearly demonstrated who she sympathises with in our child custody dispute.]]>
As I understand it, she was appointed by the Court, and it was done in a random manner as she was next in the list.

It was the first time I had met or seen her however, and as a Self-represented Litigant, I thought it proper to introduce myself but she declined my attempt.

She said that anything she had to say to me would be dome via the court room, which I found both unnecessarily aggressive and started me thinking whether she was biased against me

Through-out the day, I found out that she had interviewed my wife in a personal face to face meeting, and also interviewed my child.

She however never contacted me, nor did she even inform me that she intended to interview my wife, nor was she evidently interested in interviewing me.

That pre-trial hearing achieved very little, but for the Court suggesting that a Family Report writer write a report on our family dynamic.

I had no issue with this, but as soon as the Judge mentioned it, the ICL made a recommendation that a certain report writer be assigned this task.

I had no idea who this report writer was, or whether she would be objective, but I was suspicious based on the enthusiasm of the ICL.

The Judge did ask me whether I objected to this report writer, to which I said ‘No’, but now I regret agreeing to it.

Given the ICL’s behaviour, I am very worried that the Report Writer was chosen because of her reputation, but I have not been able to find out much information on her one way or the other so far.

Can I get the selection of report writer reviewed, given my concerns? Can I nominate another report writer, who I believe would be more objective?

I am now very anxious that I have been set up by an ICL who has clearly demonstrated who she sympathises with in our child custody dispute.]]> https://forum.familylawexpress.com.au/Thread-Changes-to-the-Aged-Pension-for-2017 Thu, 22 Sep 2016 20:41:27 -0600 https://forum.familylawexpress.com.au/Thread-Changes-to-the-Aged-Pension-for-2017
I basically pay for all household expenses such as groceries and bills from my own income, but when it comes to my mother’s healthcare, I have been relying on her pension.

My mother suffers from a large number of chronic conditions, requiring a special diet, daily medications, monitoring equipment, frequent doctor visits and periodic nurse care, which adds up to be a significant cost over time.

So I am in a position where I really rely on my mother’s pension for her healthcare.

I have recently heard that the government has introduced significant changes that will apply to the age pension from the beginning of 2017, and I am concerned that this will impact the most vulnerable like my mother and I.

Can anyone explain whether these changes will reduce or remove the pension from elderly widows like my mother who owns her house outright, and has funds left over to her from my deceased father, but other than that she is very old and frail and needs ongoing healthcare support?]]>
I basically pay for all household expenses such as groceries and bills from my own income, but when it comes to my mother’s healthcare, I have been relying on her pension.

My mother suffers from a large number of chronic conditions, requiring a special diet, daily medications, monitoring equipment, frequent doctor visits and periodic nurse care, which adds up to be a significant cost over time.

So I am in a position where I really rely on my mother’s pension for her healthcare.

I have recently heard that the government has introduced significant changes that will apply to the age pension from the beginning of 2017, and I am concerned that this will impact the most vulnerable like my mother and I.

Can anyone explain whether these changes will reduce or remove the pension from elderly widows like my mother who owns her house outright, and has funds left over to her from my deceased father, but other than that she is very old and frail and needs ongoing healthcare support?]]> https://forum.familylawexpress.com.au/Thread-Apprehended-bias Mon, 30 May 2016 02:14:58 -0600 https://forum.familylawexpress.com.au/Thread-Apprehended-bias but is available now)?
A fully ethical reporter would admit they were totally wrong, but in circumstances where the reporters reputation is that they don't change their mind under cross-examination (ever?), it would be a risk to use the same reporter again.
At a minimum they may be tempted to water down their assessment, as to make a full and proper assessment would be pointing out just how dangerously wrong (perhaps incompetent) they were in the first instance.
Could this count for apprehended bias, or is there something else that can be used here to effect change of a family reporter?]]> but is available now)?
A fully ethical reporter would admit they were totally wrong, but in circumstances where the reporters reputation is that they don't change their mind under cross-examination (ever?), it would be a risk to use the same reporter again.
At a minimum they may be tempted to water down their assessment, as to make a full and proper assessment would be pointing out just how dangerously wrong (perhaps incompetent) they were in the first instance.
Could this count for apprehended bias, or is there something else that can be used here to effect change of a family reporter?]]> https://forum.familylawexpress.com.au/Thread-Conflict-and-Sole-Parental-Responsibility Sun, 30 Aug 2015 01:37:34 -0600 https://forum.familylawexpress.com.au/Thread-Conflict-and-Sole-Parental-Responsibility
I am about to meet the family report writer next week, and I will be seeing him with my soon-to-be ex-wife and our child, apparently together in the same room.

Is this normal practice?

I am really paranoid that my ex will try and 'game' the session and try to get into an argument with me, to try and prove that we cannot negotiate on important matters relating to our kids.

She is asking for sole custody, and her argument is that we cannot stand being in the same room with each other.

And she is right to a degree, because she always blames me for everything, like a few weeks ago our eldest boy got a runny nose, and she went to great pains to calculate that he caught the bug while he was with me.

It is these relentlessly malicious comments that eventually get under my skin, and I would like to know that whether the Report Writer cares about right or wrong, or does he simply think "well, they can't get along so its best for the kids that the mother has sole parental responsibility".

if it is important that I just get along, then I will do that, because the last thing my kids need is for me to lose the little contact I do have, but I just need to know whether it is the existence of conflict on its that determine whether sole responsibility is given, or whether family report writers judge who is being malicious and for what reasons?]]>
I am about to meet the family report writer next week, and I will be seeing him with my soon-to-be ex-wife and our child, apparently together in the same room.

Is this normal practice?

I am really paranoid that my ex will try and 'game' the session and try to get into an argument with me, to try and prove that we cannot negotiate on important matters relating to our kids.

She is asking for sole custody, and her argument is that we cannot stand being in the same room with each other.

And she is right to a degree, because she always blames me for everything, like a few weeks ago our eldest boy got a runny nose, and she went to great pains to calculate that he caught the bug while he was with me.

It is these relentlessly malicious comments that eventually get under my skin, and I would like to know that whether the Report Writer cares about right or wrong, or does he simply think "well, they can't get along so its best for the kids that the mother has sole parental responsibility".

if it is important that I just get along, then I will do that, because the last thing my kids need is for me to lose the little contact I do have, but I just need to know whether it is the existence of conflict on its that determine whether sole responsibility is given, or whether family report writers judge who is being malicious and for what reasons?]]> https://forum.familylawexpress.com.au/Thread-Child-Contact-Centre-Evidence Thu, 27 Aug 2015 22:58:23 -0600 https://forum.familylawexpress.com.au/Thread-Child-Contact-Centre-Evidence https://forum.familylawexpress.com.au/Thread-What-can-i-do-to-speed-things-along-get-my-girl-home Thu, 06 Aug 2015 05:20:19 -0600 https://forum.familylawexpress.com.au/Thread-What-can-i-do-to-speed-things-along-get-my-girl-home
I had an incompetent lawyer who didn't prepare for trial. I fired them after the initial 3 days of the original trial proceedings. Unfortunately it has left me in a position where alot of the arguments can now not be put forward. 

The children and I put up with arson attacks, i was publicly assaulted twice, cars vandalised, harrassment. theft, the children were abducted at one point and my oldest alienated (although she has since recovered). 

Beth, my 5 yr old, ended up in a residency reversal in october last year - to the people responsible for what ive just listed - although they have never been charged with anything.. 

She is now frequently ill, persistently suffering from bruising, has her communication with me constantly sabotaged, and is desperately missing all her family members who she has been with all her life until these current orders under appeal & often demonstrates violent refusals to return to her fathers (we have changeovers through a contact centre). 

I have tried a new application & it was dismissed. I have filed 2 contravention applications - one for the school holidays with me that she didn't get - & the same bias judge dismissed it - & it had been her own order & his blatant contravention. 

The 2nd contravention had some 18 counts - the judge dismissed all but 4 because she said they weren't worded well enough (& ordered i pay $7k of his costs for the priviledge of that little gem). 

There are 4 counts left to be heard next month, none of which are major enough to bring the residency into question..]]>
I had an incompetent lawyer who didn't prepare for trial. I fired them after the initial 3 days of the original trial proceedings. Unfortunately it has left me in a position where alot of the arguments can now not be put forward. 

The children and I put up with arson attacks, i was publicly assaulted twice, cars vandalised, harrassment. theft, the children were abducted at one point and my oldest alienated (although she has since recovered). 

Beth, my 5 yr old, ended up in a residency reversal in october last year - to the people responsible for what ive just listed - although they have never been charged with anything.. 

She is now frequently ill, persistently suffering from bruising, has her communication with me constantly sabotaged, and is desperately missing all her family members who she has been with all her life until these current orders under appeal & often demonstrates violent refusals to return to her fathers (we have changeovers through a contact centre). 

I have tried a new application & it was dismissed. I have filed 2 contravention applications - one for the school holidays with me that she didn't get - & the same bias judge dismissed it - & it had been her own order & his blatant contravention. 

The 2nd contravention had some 18 counts - the judge dismissed all but 4 because she said they weren't worded well enough (& ordered i pay $7k of his costs for the priviledge of that little gem). 

There are 4 counts left to be heard next month, none of which are major enough to bring the residency into question..]]> https://forum.familylawexpress.com.au/Thread-Second-Opinion-Report Wed, 05 Aug 2015 04:35:26 -0600 https://forum.familylawexpress.com.au/Thread-Second-Opinion-Report
For any serious medical condition I wouldn't think twice about getting a 2nd or 3rd opinion, but are you limited to 1 with the family report?

Any other options other than just critisizing it at the trial?

It would seem to make sense to get another experts opinion before the Judge.

Thanks]]>
For any serious medical condition I wouldn't think twice about getting a 2nd or 3rd opinion, but are you limited to 1 with the family report?

Any other options other than just critisizing it at the trial?

It would seem to make sense to get another experts opinion before the Judge.

Thanks]]> https://forum.familylawexpress.com.au/Thread-Documenting-Undermine-Behaviour Thu, 30 Jul 2015 19:44:31 -0600 https://forum.familylawexpress.com.au/Thread-Documenting-Undermine-Behaviour
I mean things like the kids not being home on the night that I am to pick them up (she arranged for them to have a sleep-over with friends that night).

Or not allowing the girls to answer the phone when I call, or hurrying the girls to finish talking to me on the phone (in less than 30 seconds) because they are always allegedly in a hurry for one thing or another.

Or when the girls are with me, the mother gives the girls all this apparent home work (not real home work, but reading certain books), which stresses the girls out and they refuse to even go to the shops with me for fear that they will not finish the book reading.

It is not a matter of one big thing, but numerous little things that undermine my relationship with my kids. I basically have no say with my girls, regardless of whether they are will me or with their mother.

However I find it difficult to document these issues. Should I try and take photos or record audio?

Should I simply write it down like diary entries?

Which way would a court prefer such issues to be documented for the purposes of being used as evidence?]]>
I mean things like the kids not being home on the night that I am to pick them up (she arranged for them to have a sleep-over with friends that night).

Or not allowing the girls to answer the phone when I call, or hurrying the girls to finish talking to me on the phone (in less than 30 seconds) because they are always allegedly in a hurry for one thing or another.

Or when the girls are with me, the mother gives the girls all this apparent home work (not real home work, but reading certain books), which stresses the girls out and they refuse to even go to the shops with me for fear that they will not finish the book reading.

It is not a matter of one big thing, but numerous little things that undermine my relationship with my kids. I basically have no say with my girls, regardless of whether they are will me or with their mother.

However I find it difficult to document these issues. Should I try and take photos or record audio?

Should I simply write it down like diary entries?

Which way would a court prefer such issues to be documented for the purposes of being used as evidence?]]> https://forum.familylawexpress.com.au/Thread-Report-Writer-bias Thu, 23 Jul 2015 18:03:08 -0600 https://forum.familylawexpress.com.au/Thread-Report-Writer-bias
Our psychologist, who is apparently preparing a family report, is a female who has made some negative comments to me, suggesting that she believes what my ex told her without seeking any proof.

She has also seen my ex 4 times, twice without the kids, and I suspect that they have a friendship that is outside the professional situation.

If I can prove this friendship, is it possible for me to get her discharged from the case?]]>
Our psychologist, who is apparently preparing a family report, is a female who has made some negative comments to me, suggesting that she believes what my ex told her without seeking any proof.

She has also seen my ex 4 times, twice without the kids, and I suspect that they have a friendship that is outside the professional situation.

If I can prove this friendship, is it possible for me to get her discharged from the case?]]>