Dr Georgina Dimopoulos

Join Us for a Webinar: Exploring parental gender affirmation and the child's best interest in Australian Family Law.

This presentation shares findings of research into post-separation parenting disputes involving a transgender or gender diverse (TGD) parent in Australia. It examines how the Australian family courts have considered the issue of parental gender affirmation when determining the best interests of children in proceedings under Part VII of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth). It discusses three features of the court judgments that arguably challenge the acceptance of TGD families in Australian family law:

(i) parental gender affirmation as ‘confusing’ and ‘complex’ for children, although not necessarily harmful to them or to parenting capacity;

(ii) the perceived need to shield children from ‘public’ reactions to their parent’s gender affirmation; and

(iii) the significant role of language for an individual’s social affirmation of their gender and for representing the experiences and perspectives of TGD families.

The presentation will encourage practitioners to reflect on how dispute resolution practices recognise, accommodate and respect the lived experiences and needs of TGD parents and their children.