When a society removes children from their parents, it must confront a question that goes beyond policy, beyond procedure, beyond bureaucratic justification: What kind of country are we becoming if we allow hope itself to be taken from those who have already lost the most?

A book review of "Surviving Separation: Understanding Family Law Without Confusion" (released in January 2025) by Graham McFarland. This is a practical, Australia-focused guide that aims to turn confusion into a step-by-step roadmap.

The current Family Law System is biased against fathers and routinely deprives children of their biological birthright to equal access with their mother and fathers. This legislation creates a new stolen generation of children who, in many cases, are taken away from their fathers.

This week saw this fascinating announcement from an American advocate, Robert Garza, who is intent on fixing the family court system not only across America but in countries across the world.

John Stapleton's latest book, "Failure: Family Law Reform Australia", is a scathing critique of Australia’s family law system, timed to mark the 50th anniversary of the Family Law Act of 1975. It is a sobering tale of institutional overreach, human cost, and a democracy too timid to fix its own messes.

On 5 January 1976, the Family Law Act 1975 came into effect. It was passed into law by just one vote. This marked a controversial and historically significant turning point for Australian family life.

Australia’s politicians are frightened of the very monster they created in family law, the literally hundreds of taxpayer-funded women’s legal services, advocacy groups, refuges, and an armada of feminist academics and activist judges.

“Divorced Dads: Shattering the Myths” by Sanford Braver is a seminal work that challenges many widely held beliefs about fathers post-divorce. Braver, a professor of psychology, embarked on this study with the aim of debunking myths through empirical research.

"Family Court Hell" by Mark Harris is a harrowing account of one man’s ten-year odyssey through the British family court system following the painful dissolution of his marriage.

The proposed Family Law Amendment legislation by the Labor Government will be another case of rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, instead of fixing the hole in the hull to stop the ship from going down. Many of the reform proposals, such as considering the best interests of the child, are well-intentioned, but unless they solve the fundamental problem, they really become another layer of bureaucracy to waste taxpayers’ money. ...

Parental alienation is a systemic plague infecting the family court system. Inoculating the courts against this would clear the emotional quagmire brought on by The Court of Emotion’s atrocious toxic waiting queue in a matter of months. Not only this, the disproportionately high suicide rate among men, as well as domestic violence numbers, would likely nosedive across the board. Defusing the manipulative device, instead of downplaying its effects, can go a ...

The family law system is unfairly stacked against separated fathers who simply want joint custody of their children. “Custody — Blood is Thicker Than Water” is an inspiring true story of a loving father who fought the system so that he could be a dad to his son. As Dads, we are all our brother’s keepers. In this case, Single Dads are our brothers. We must all do our best to ...

There is a war on men but the greatest perpetrators are the men themselves. As Walt Kelly once said, “We have met the enemy and he is us.” Our single greatest enemy is our own passivity – mine included. Daily, I make the decision as Robert Lewis says, to “reject passivity.” That is why you are getting this newsletter. The number one objection women have about husbands is their passivity. I ...

Cup in hand, deep in thought, It’s like this every day. And it twists my heart I know But there is no other way. I dream of you, there’s nothing else, No picture I can see. To see your smiles and how you’ve grown Or how much of you is me. To hold you close, to hear you laugh, To put you to bed at night. To tell you things a ...

The best decisions about the care, welfare and support of children are those made by their parents. However, the Child Support Agency has decided that it should take over this role. As a result, I know plenty of non-custodial fathers (and one mother) who not only have no intention of ever paying child support, but also do everything they possibly can to avoid it. I’m one of them. What do you ...

The observation that separated couples rarely get along with each other would come as no revelation to anyone. It is generally relationship problems that lead to the separation in the first place. Yet these relationship difficulties are often used by the Family Court as the basis for refusing shared parenting and for restricting a father’s contact with his children. I know of one case where a judge, who found no fault ...

Letter to the Prime Minister from The Lone Fathers Association of Australia Part Two The best interests of the child With a legal presumption of equal shared physical custody, a clear message would be sent by the Australian community to the divorce industry that a child is a human being with an inalienable right to equal parenting (including parenting time) by both its parents and a right to not have a ...

Letter to the Prime Minister from The Lone Fathers Association of Australia Part One General comments The LFAA, as the national peak body representing separated fathers and their children, wishes to inform you of our extreme disappointment with the Report on “Shared Custody” by the House of Representatives Committee on Family and Community Affairs released on 29 December 2003. While the fathers and children of Australia have asked for bread, the ...

A few years ago I was a happily married man — a beautiful wife, three sons, a home  that  was well on the way to being paid off, a job, and settled in the community.  We had just had our 10-year anniversary — a night on the town for the family.  A few bumps along the way, including some really tough surprises with our sons’ births, but everything was fine — ...