Chapter 4: Family - General

This chapter commences with outlines of the functions of the Child Protection Service and the role of the Children’s Court in Child Protection in Victoria. There follows a discussion of the jurisdiction of the Family Division and the definitions of ‘child’, ‘parent’, ‘parental responsibility’ ‘contact’ and ‘protective intervention reports’. The conduct of Family Division proceedings – including the Marram-Ngala Ganbu Pilot Program, the Family Drug Treatment Court and the ways in which children can be legally represented – is then discussed as are the Court’s alternative dispute resolution mechanisms: conciliation conferences and judicial resolution conferences.

The chapter continues with a discussion of:

• the comparison between the Children’s Court and the Family Court;
• the relationship between attachment and a child’s emotional wellbeing;
• shared care of a young child;
• frequency of contact between a young child and a parent;
• the concept of cumulative harm; and
• the effect on a child of separation from the child’s primary attachment figure.