Care of Children Act changes fall short

Family Court judges should be careful about releasing information to the media to justify their own actions, says National Party Family spokeswoman Judith Collins.

She is commenting on the release of information on the Jelicich case by Principal Family Court judge, Peter Boshier.

“If Family Court judges release details of cases, including people’s names and personal details, to deflect criticism of their decisions, then it seems only fair that mums and dads might themselves wish to claim the same privileges,” says Ms Collins.

“The ability of parties involved in Family Court cases to complain or comment in a public forum is severely restricted. But this is not the case when Family Court judges are themselves criticised.

“Judges can release details of cases to justify their decisions, parents cannot. Changes to the Care of Children Act did not go far enough towards remedying this,” says Ms Collins.

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