Religious issues in children’s matters

By Josephine Sergi

This article explores how Family Courts have approached religious issues in child disputes, and will:

• broadly set out the legislation governing children’s matters, and the wider constitutional and international convention framework within which it sits;
• reflect on the impact of religion on a child’s identity;
• examine cases where religion has been at issue, in both Australia and overseas; and
• conclude that if the Family Courts do not address the issue, or, more broadly, understand the impacts of the religious beliefs and practices when such issues are in dispute, they may fall short of their responsibility to determine what parenting orders should be made in a child’s best interests.

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