Protection applications in the Children’s Court: The Victorian Law Reform Commission Report

The Victorian Law Reform Commission’s report into protection applications in the Children’s Court was tabled in parliament by the Victorian Attorney-General on 5 October 2010. The terms of reference asked the commission to review the processes followed in the Family Division of the Children’s Court and not the child protection system as a whole. This article summarises the outcome of the inquiry in the context of national developments in child protection and family law. It describes a number of the options proposed in the Final Report. Those options draw upon innovative and highly successful aspects of the Victorian legal system — such as the growing emphasis upon ADR