Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The murder of Hannah Clarke and her beautiful children has impacted on all Australians. I extend my sincere sympathy to the Clarke family. But, as a lawmaker with the privilege of being elected to represent Moreton, I know that thoughts and prayers are not enough. In the past two years we've had a House of Representatives report of the Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs with 33 recommendations to improve the family law system and an Australian Law Reform Commission report into the family law system with 60 recommendations.

This government has work to do now. Each of these two reports call on the coalition government to amend section 61DA of the Family Law Act. That provision contains the presumption of equal shared parental responsibility. It is a common misconception that this provision presumes that parents should equally share their time caring for children post separation. It does not mean that; it never meant that. But, sadly, this provision incentivises violent men to litigate and is dangerous to women and children escaping domestic violence.

Over the weekend, the Women's Legal Service Queensland again called on the Morrison government to follow the recommendation of the ALRC report and immediately remove section 61DA from the Family Law Act. It could be done today. So I call on Prime Minister Morrison and Attorney-General Porter to act now. Make this Hannah Clarke's amendment. It is not a silver bullet to fix the scourge of domestic violence, but it is a start. And if it helps one mother and child to safely leave a dangerous situation, surely it is worth it. The time for Hannah Clarke's amendment is now.