Interdisciplinary Symposium
Event background and recommendations
The Rainbow Families Council presented an Interdiscplinary Symposium in June 2007 addressing important legal, social and health issues affecting rainbow families.
The event attracted lesbian and gay parents and their families, health and community practitioners, educators and teachers, policy makers, professionals from health, education, legal and welfare sectors, researchers and sociologists.
The Symposium, as well as a free public lecture preceeding it, featured Professor Charlotte Patterson from the University of Virginia, USA. Justice Sally Brown from the Family Court of Australia opened the symposium, followed by keynote addresses from Dr Deborah Dempsey, Associate Professor Kristen Walker and Dr John Tobin. A number of roundtable discussions gave participants an opportunity to engage in discussion about key social, legal, health and community issues affecting rainbow families.
Proceedings of the Symposium can be downloaded below.
Summary of recommendations
The following recommendations serve to summarise the key points from all of the
sessions of the symposium.
Legal Issues and Family Law
- The symposium endorses legislative change that would arise from adoption of the
recommendations of the Victorian Law Reform Commission final report on ART
and Adoption, and the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission ‘Same-
Sex: Same Entitlements’ report. - In particular, non-birth parents within same sex parented families should be legally
recognised. Parenting intention should prevail over biology when determining
parenting rights and responsibilities. - Children will benefit when the law recognises all children’s relationships.
Diversity of lesbian and gay parented families should be recognised in law,
particularly family forms that differ from the current heterosexual models. An
example of such recognition would be the development of specific resources such
as fact sheets about obtaining parenting orders for lesbian and gay parents and
donors. - Prospective donors and recipients should seek professional counselling and legal
advice at the beginning of their negotiations in order to craft the best possible
agreement for all concerned.
Health and the Law
- There is a role for advocacy by health and social care providers such as advising
clients on the legal requirements of the service regarding recognition of legal
guardians. - The Victorian Human Rights Charter could be used to encourage public
providers such as public hospitals to protect families and children from
discrimination. - Legislative change will create an opportunity for training of providers e.g. DHS
- regularly produces ‘practice notes’ for public services such as child care, which
- could be used to disseminate information.
Professional Development
- Professional development sessions for family law practitioners and judges on the
specific issues for lesbian and gay parented families will be commenced. - A frequently asked questions sheet will be placed on the Family Court website
about key issues raised today. - Dialogue should be commenced between families and lawyers and policy makers, especially including the children’s perspectives.
- Health care professionals should be trained to develop cultural competence, which is an understanding of the distinct needs of the lesbian and gay parented families.
Social Dimensions and Awareness Raising
- The general community should be informed of the consistent research findings
over 25 years that children in lesbian and gay parented families are thriving. - Ensuring that the children’s best interests are served involves encouraging the
‘right’ authority to frame the debate. This includes the appropriate use of research
findings and enabling the voices of the children themselves to be heard. - Family is a living social construct that is constantly evolving and adapting to social
changes. Lesbian and gay parenting is part of this change and while there may be
some social and legal dilemmas to come to grips with as unconventional family
forms proliferate, overall, they reflect new opportunities for living in caring and
respectful relationships. - Gay men parent in multiple ways, including as foster parents, parents through
surrogacy, parents from previous heterosexual relationships, and as donor dads.
This diversity needs to be acknowledged and accommodated within the LGBTI
communities. - Class/structural disadvantage should be taken into account when considering the
potential stresses for lesbian and gay parents.
DOWNLOADS
 Interdisciplinary Symposium proceedings | downloads: 115 | type: pdf | size: 739 kB |
Download proceedings from our Interdisciplinary Symposium, including summaries of keynote speeches on the law, conceptions of kinship and children's rights and rainbow families. |
|
