In a protest against the family court, a lone father strapped himself to the top of the city’s Story Bridge

The Family Law Courts and the department of child services are an absolute disgrace. In a protest against the family court, a lone father strapped himself to the top of the city’s Story Bridge before been detained by police. Police say the man made his way down from the bridge just after 7am (AEST) after staging a three-hour protest against the family courts.

Identified by Nova radio only as "Nathan", a father in his 30s, the man scaled the bridge early this morning and draped a banner reading “Equal rights – not in the family court” over the railing. Nathan told the radio station that he has not seen his son in months. Nathan may well have good reason to protest against the failure to see his son, but Section 65DAA of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) states that in relation to shared parental responsibility, the court is required to consider if equal time is in the child or children’s best interests and if such an arrangement is practical.

If no order for equal time is made, the court has to take into consideration what is referred to as a substantial and significant time e.g. such as 4 to 6 days in every fortnight. If this is not considered either then the court identifies what arrangement should be made that is both practical and serves the child’s best interests. In Nathan’s case if his ex spouse is simply making it difficult for him to see his child then the family court can solve this issue.

However, if arrangements have been made through the court for Nathan to spend time with his child and he considers the time is not enough then he will have to try to negotiate with the court to reach an agreement that is in the best interests of the child.