NSW: MP wants lie detector tests for parents in Family Law Court

AAP General News (Australia)
08-17-2007
NSW: MP wants lie detector tests for parents in Family Law Court

SYDNEY, Aug 17 AAP - An MP has called for compulsory lie detector tests for parents
facing the Family Law Court.

South Australian independent MP Ann Bressington says current family law is a divisive
"cash cow" that harms those it aims to protect - children.

The federal government must intervene and rewrite the law, just as it is acting to
protect indigenous children in the Northern Territory, Ms Bressington told AAP in Sydney,
where she is attending a Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission conference.

"We have to ask why the Attorney-General (Philip Ruddock) and the Prime Minister (John
Howard) would be seen to support such a dysfunctional (Family Law) Act when they can take
the action they did in the Northern Territory to supposedly protect Aboriginal children,"

she said.

A draft bill to introduce polygraph (lie detector) tests for individuals before Family
Court proceedings would be introduced in the South Australian parliament in the next session,
said Ms Bressington.

However, she said the use of polygraph tests needed to be implemented federally.

"There is no recognition of perjury. A man or a woman can go into a Family Law Court
and lie about the conduct of their partner and it can be proven to be false but there
is no course of action that's taken," Ms Bressington said.

"I believe the research and evidence to support the use of polygraphing, not for court
but pre-court is very strong. It has a 98 per cent accuracy ... If we can save resources
in the social services departments and thousands of hours spent by social workers investigating
false allegations ... that's a good thing."

Ms Bressington said the family law system was biased against men, but children suffered too.

"On top of the dysfunctional family law system we have a corrupted child protection
agency.," she said.

"We have children being coerced in interviews to support false allegations.

"It's a feeding ground, it's a cash cow, people are literally striped of any assets
and use it (the court) against one another," she said.

Ms Bressington said her main focus was on drug and alcohol issues but through this
she had experienced first hand the difficulties people faced with family law.

In 2006 she introduced a bill calling for random drug testing of SA school children.

She is the chief executive officer and founder of DrugBeat South Australia, a treatment
and rehabilitation centre.

AAP ig/wjf/it/mn

KEYWORD: PARENTS

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