The Role of Children's Voices and Feedback Mechanisms in Family Justice

ABSTRACT When parents separate in Australia and in many other jurisdictions, most settle the parenting arrangements for their children between themselves or with the assistance of mediation or other dispute resolution processes. These processes may or may not take much account of children's views. When parents cannot resolve their dispute, there are several mechanisms that can, but do not necessarily, allow children's views to be heard in the decision‐making process—via expert reports and an independent children's lawyer acting on best interests. Using a child rights and procedural justice framework, this article provides a critique of children's participation in family law processes in Australia, particularly when there are allegations of family and domestic violence. These allegations add complexity, and in many cases, further reduce children's effective engagement in the process and their satisfaction with the arrangements. A range of communication and monitoring feedback mechanisms are proposed to encourage children's meaningful participation, increase transparency and promote child‐centred, evidence‐based and recalibrated decision‐making.