Post Separation Parenting – What Do We Know?
Most couples who separate in New Zealand make their own decisions about living arrangements for their children, without
going to the Family Court. What arrangements do parents make, and how do they make them? How do their decisions affect
their children?
These questions and others will be the focus of a seminar hosted by Victoria University’s Roy McKenzie Centre for the
Study of Families on 7 November.
“The seminar will be of interest to policy makers, lawyers, professionals working with families, and separating or
separated parents because of the far-reaching consequences that living arrangements and how they are managed can have on
the short and long term wellbeing of families,” says Dr Jan Pryor, Director of the Roy McKenzie Centre for the Study of
Families.
Supported by the Families Commission, and opened by Rajen Prasad, Chief Commissioner of the Families Commission, the
seminar will feature leading New Zealand and international speakers looking at what we know – and don’t know – about
post separation parenting.
Dr Robert Emery, Director of the Centre for Children, Families and the Law at the University of Virginia will explore
child custody and children’s best interests: scientific and unscientific answers to an impossible question; John
Chadwick from Chadwick Law will discuss getting the priorities right for Maori when separation looms; and Dr Bruce
Smyth, Associate Professor at the Australian Demographic and Social Research Institute at the Australian National
University in Canberra will consider shared care.
In addition, Dr Jan Pryor and Dr Jeremy Robertson, Senior Research Fellow for the Roy McKenzie Centre for the Study of
Families will discuss the kinds of contact children have with non-resident parents. Information about the Parenting
through Separation Programme will be presented by the Ministry of Justice.
The seminar will be held at Victoria University’s Memorial Theatre, Student Union Complex, Kelburn Parade, Wellington
from 9am-4pm on Wednesday 7 November.
ends