The Australian Legal System

*The Australian legal system in relation to family law seeks to protect children. The best interest of the child is considered to be the paramount. Many types of families exist in our contemporary society such as nuclear, blended and single parent families. Living in a technologically advanced society, creating human life is gradually becoming a science rather than a miracle of natural life. The ethics behind in vitro fertilisation, also known as IVF, have been very conflicting ones. *IVF helps infertile couples achieve their dream of having a child by an ovum fertilised by sperm in a laboratory. The allowance of IVF has been effective in achieving justice for infertile couples by allowing them to start a “family”. On the contrary, the case of Leesa Meldrum in the High Court resulted in the allowance of a single mother to have IVF treatment, which creates justice even more for those unable to have children.  
*Children are an asset to society, and with the increasing acceptance of birth technology, there are many questions that arise. Surrogacy is the promise between a couple and a woman agreeing to bear a child for the couple. An important question in regards to surrogacy was explored in Whitehead v Stern – should the parent who donated the genetic material take care of the child, or should the parent who gave birth? This is an issue becoming more apparent and which needs to be addressed. * The concept of family is also changing, that is, there are alternate family arrangements to the former definition of a family as the nuclear family. The recognition of de-facto relationships has brought much justice to people in such circumstances. Changing community values no longer see this as “living in sin”. Instead, the De-facto Relationships Act 1984, amended and renamed the Property (Relationships) Act 1984, defines this. This achieves justice by allowing property division and maintenance orders for these couples if the relationship has broken down.
*Despite the...