Evaluation of a pilot of legally assisted and supported family dispute resolution in family violence cases

Evidence of the prevalence of a history of past and/or current family violence among separated parents, and the presence of ongoing safety concerns for themselves and their children as a result of ongoing contact with the other parent, has created an impetus for the family law system to find more effective ways of dealing with families affected by family violence. In July 2009, the Federal Government announced funding for a pilot program to provide assistance, including family dispute resolution (FDR), to such families. Subsequently, Women’s Legal Service Brisbane (and other consultants) were funded by the Attorney- General’s Department (AGD) to develop a model for coordinated family dispute resolution (CFDR). CFDR is a service for separated families who need assistance to resolve parenting disputes where there has been a history of past and/or current family violence. It is being implemented in five sites/lead agencies across Australia: Perth (Legal Aid Western Australia), Brisbane (Telephone Dispute Resolution Service [TDRS], run by Relationships Australia Queensland), Newcastle (Interrelate), Western Sydney (Unifam) and Hobart (Relationships Australia Tasmania). TDRS made adaptions to the model to accommodate its telephone-based service. The pilot commenced operation at most sites in the final quarter of 2010. Implementation in one location (Brisbane) was delayed until mid-2011 to allow time to finalise the composition of the partnership. This report presents the findings of an evaluation of this process

BARRIERS AND MOTIVATIONS TO RESIDENTIAL PRO-ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIONS IN SAN LUIS OBISPO

Carbon neutrality has become an important focus for many municipalities, with the inclusion of mitigation measures targeted at the residential sector becoming increasingly prominent for the implementation of climate action plans (CAPs). However, many analyses fall short in identifying the barriers and motivations faced by residents to adopting pro-environmental actions in their daily lives, focusing instead on the available actions themselves. This research aims to identify both the barriers and motivations to adopting pro-environmental behaviors and assess their relationship(s) to key demographic variables, along with climate change perceptions. Using the city of San Luis Obispo (SLO) as a case study, this project used an online residential engagement survey administered to the general public through several mechanisms, including in-person and online platforms. The study reveals that the greatest barrier to SLO residents’ implementing pro-environmental behaviors is affordability, with accessibility coming in second, and the most common motivation is climate change concerns. The results further indicate that ranking climate change concerns higher on a scale of 1 to 10 significantly increase the chance of selecting climate change as a primary motivation for adopting pro-environmental behavior. Additionally, we found significant variability among those of differing socioeconomic status (SES) in selection of barriers. These results suggest that SLO should address the most pertinent identified barriers through structural solutions, with an emphasis on their varied distribution across demographic groups, while continuing to encourage existing motivations. Such efforts would help SLO move toward necessary greenhouse gas emission reductions to achieve carbon neutrality by 2035

My favourite nematode – Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita

The terrestrial gastropod parasitic nematode Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita is the only nematode that evolved to infect and kill slugs and snails. Because of this ability it has been formulated into a biological control agent for gardeners. In this Forum article, the author outlines several reasons why P. hemaphrodita is a nematode that is worth studying, including its ability to control the behaviour and kill slug hosts. The author discusses how P. hemaphrodita is being developed as a model nematode to be used to study the genetic evolution of parasitism, as well as potential research ideas for the future

De\u27Andre Hardy

Mr. Hardy double-majored in Business Administration and Sociology with concentrations in Race and Ethnic Relations and Human Sexuality. He was chairperson of Black Men in Action, created the Anti-Discrimination Coalition, and started Wesleyan\u27s chapter of the NAACP

First Order Premelting Transition of Vortex Lattices

Vortex lattices in the high temperature superconductors undergo a first order phase transition which has thus far been regarded as melting from a solid to a liquid. We point out an alternative possibility of a two step process in which there is a first order transition from an ordinary vortex lattice to a soft vortex solid followed by another first order melting transition from the soft vortex solid to a vortex liquid. We focus on the first step. This premelting transition is induced by vacancy and interstitial vortex lines. We obtain good agreement with the experimental transition temperature versus field, latent heat, and magnetization jumps for YBCO and BSCCO.Comment: revised version replaces 9705092, 5 pages, Latex, 2 postscript figures, defect line wandering is included, 2 step melting is propose

Evaluation of the 2012 family violence amendments: synthesis report

This report sets out the overall findings of the evaluation of the 2012 family violence amendments. The evaluation examined the effects of amendments to the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth)  that were intended to improve the family law system’s responses to matters involving family violence and safety concerns. Key messages Most separated parents don’t use family dispute resolution, lawyers or courts to resolve parenting matters after they separate Those parents who do use family law systems tend to be those affected by complex issues including family violence, mental ill-health, substance abuse and safety concerns for themselves and/or their children There has been an increased emphasis on identifying families with concerns about family violence and child abuse, however 29% of parents using family law system services reported never being asked about family violence or safety concerns Family law professionals indicated that better screening tools and approaches are required The reforms have supported sorting out parenting arrangements by agreement. This is likely to be due to a change in 2012 that means advisors tell parents that parenting arrangements should be in a child’s best interests Subtle changes in parenting arrangements are evident such as more parents with safety concerns reporting a shift away from overnight stays with fathers The proportion of children with court orders for shared care, where allegations of both family violence or child safety had been raised, fell after the reforms (from 19% to 11%) The proportion of court orders for shared care where neither family violence nor child safety was raised remained stable (22%): no significant change showed where only one issue was raised (17% pre-reform, 15% post-reform). Overall the main findings of the evaluation indicate that the 2012 family violence amendments are a step in the right direction in a reform agenda intended to improve the system’s response to family violence and child abuse concerns in post-separation parenting arrangements. See related content for seperate reports.   &nbsp