- Don't use a lawyer. You might as well burn your money. They offer no protection from what the magistrate/judge will allow to be said against you. As I've said, you basically have no defense against this tactic. It's expected of the mothers and forms part of the summing up against you when you lose your kids. Opposing lawyers will in all likelihood have a one on one chat about you but they are constrained by court policy which is mother driven. The mere term mother in court means parental skills. It is certainly not the same for the term father.
- If you don't use a lawyer and are unhappy about the outcome you'll probably have a better chance of gaining a second court appearance as you could say you were disadvantaged by not having a lawyer. My personal opinion is that by having a lawyer you are actually disadvantaged. But remember, the courts are more than willing to let you throw your life savings away because they know that once you've no more left you're more likely to concede defeat.
- If you are determined to fight the best method is to buy a printer/fax scanner and do everything by mail. You will end up with boxes of paper work but so do the courts and your opposition. It's more likely you will make a mistake if you you don't do it this way. Your opposition will also endeavor to state that they haven't received any communication from you or you haven't submitted it in time etc etc. They do this as a stalling tactic to draw out procedures. Get help either from free community legal or a men's rights organization on how to fill in the numerous forms. The system lately has been becoming more and more bogged down. Perhaps that will force the courts to eventually see fathers want to be parents.
- Ask other men what they did and where they went wrong. Don't be surprised if there is a lot of negativity as it's only natural with such a rotten to the core system.
- Know your rights. You have the right to keep coming back to court for the rest of your life to try to do what's best for your children but the courts are not interested in what's best for them. They are interested in money. In fact you have no rights as a parent. You only have responsibilities. You must pay for the time you cannot see your children. Your kids basically have been given a price on their heads by the family court system. As I have expressed morals or ethics within family court don't really play a part in their decision processes and the fact that you have to pay for time not allowed with your kids makes the obvious choice for many mothers to try to remove you from any contact. And don't expect the court to operate with a sense of decency, empathy or sympathetic nature. You will get people within the court privately acknowledging it is unfair but once you are before a magistrate you are simply a number. You mean nothing in the big picture by way of your gender. Did I mention? It is corrupt.
- The Child Support Agency is just as woman-centric as the Family court and will hound you till the ends of the earth. Those working there actually see themselves as supporting good parenting. What a joke! The best tactic with them is to never acknowledge any letter they send you and don't communicate with them in any form. They are an extension of your ex's wishes only and don't listen to reason, don't accept that you may be doing it tough financially, always assume that you are lying, and readily issue you with assumed income statements so they can send you nice bills. They are so family focused they might even issue you with a departure preventative order so that your children cannot see their natural parents if say for example they live elsewhere. Very family focused.
- If you have had a child with a person whom English is not their first language then you are discriminated against even more so than if you'd married a person born in Australia. Australia has policies that put new immigrants on higher monetary benefits than it's own Australian born pensioners. My only recommendation here is not to bring your partner here to live until your children can speak for themselves within the court at around 12 years of age as the courts will not take their wishes wants or best interests into account until then and yet even then the perjury allowed in court can make it extremely difficult to be permitted parental contact. The first tactic of any new immigrant as any lawyer knows is to play the I am disadvantaged because of my language ability etc. Well, after she has explained you are an abuser of domestic violence of course.
- The use of a lawyer specifically for your child is simply another method to remove you. They generally toe the line with regards to mothers being the only suitable parent specifically with young children.
- Family report writers are notorious for misinterpreting what you have said or actually mean. your intentions may be simply to have better access to your child or should I say for your child to be permitted more involvement with you. Mine, a Ms Valma Johnson did exactly that and basically lied or should I say omitted fact with regard to our lousy one hour interview. Yes, your whole relationship is determined by way of a 40 to 60 minute interview with you and a viewing of you interacting with your child. In my case my daughter had to be removed from the building because she became inconsolable when asked to leave the room in which we were. Both my parents attended and were in tears as well. Ms Johnson said I'd not had a suitable bond with our daughter.