The legal system has been highly effective in achieving justice for same sex relationships through providing them adequate protections under the law. People in same …show more content…
Movements towards marriage equality for same sex couples have often been dismissed, which to an extent, reflected the social values and ethics of the time, as seen in the Marriage Amendment Act 2004 (cth), as the Act included the case of Hyde v Hyde and Woodmansee, as marriage between a man and a woman in the definition of marriage. However, a Crosby Textor Poll in 2014 showed that 72% of Australians supported the movement for a same sex marriage bill and the establishment of the Parliamentary Inquiry into Same Sex Marriage in NSW 2013 established that NSW had the power to create same sex marriage laws, but they would be challenged by the High Court. Despite this, there have been movements towards the creation of marriage equality legislation, largely led by the media, which resulted in the Marriage Amendment (Marriage Eqaulity) Bill 2013, which was better reflected the changing values and ethics of society. The article “Same-sex marriage ‘not inevitable’, conservatives warn Tony Abbott” (SMH, 2015) suggested that a conscience vote on the bill would result in marriage equality, highlighting the need to achieve a fair and just outcome for same sex couples. Politicians have also been criticized for not recognizing the growing support of same sex marriage, as highlighted in “Politicians need to …show more content…
As children are seen as the most vulnerable members of society, the law has endeavoured to protect them from any harm. The Family Law Reform Act 1995 (Cth) ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CROC), which made the best interests of the child paramount and that parents have the obligation and responsibility to care for their children. The Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 (NSW) introduced the notion of duty of care that parents had to care for and protect their children. This was highly effective as it allowed the Children’s Court to remove the child from harm and relocate them in a suitable environment in order to achieve a just outcome, as highlighted in “The Facts on Child Protection in NSW” (ABC, 2012). The Act was also highly effective as it brought in penalties for people, such as teachers and doctors, who didn’t report children who were at risk of harm, thus encouraging compliance with the law to protect children as family members. However, as seen in the case of R v BW and SW (2009), reform was needed in order to further protect children from harm, as the parents were neglecting their child. The Children and Young Persons (Wood Inquiry Recommendations) Act 2009 (NSW) implemented 106 recommendations from the Inquiry, resulting in the “Keep Them Safe” protocol