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Australian Divorced, Separated and Single Mother Breaking News...


Parenting in Australia

The cost of raising children 23 May 2013 | Parents spending 50 percent more to bring up children
A TYPICAL middle-income family spends 50 per cent more to raise two children than it did six years ago, with the total bill up to the age of 24 estimated at $812,000 Go to the news website...

Property Settlements in Court

Property settlements in Family Court 18 May 2013 | Ex-wives win majority slice of family fortune
The ex-wives of two brothers in Queensland have been awarded the majority of the family fortune in a bitter family court showdown that involved one of their sons Go to the news website...

Child Support in Court

Child support in Family Court 16 May 2013 | Miser dad has money for luxuries but none for his children
A DEADBEAT dad who owed $18,000 child support objected to the sale of his expensive dinner set because he'd have nothing to eat off Go to the news website...

Single Mums By Choice

new single mum using a sperm donor book 10 May 2013 | Single mother, sperm donor: Breaking all The Rules Of Conception
DEBUT author Angela Lawrence has written an inspiring and poignant modern day story about a single woman who defies convention, using a sperm donor to give her the child she wants. Go to the news website...

Australian parenting news

Australian children are sleep deprived 10 May 2013 | Australian children among the sleepiest
Sleepiness is holding Australian schoolchildren back in the international education race, a study suggests. Research conducted alongside international maths tests showed Australian children in year 4 were the fifth most sleep-deprived in the world, of 50 countries studied Go to the news website...

Single parent statistical data

Single Parent statistical data from the Census 09 May 2013 | Single dad families growing at twice the rate of lone-mum families
ONE of the fastest growing social groups in Australia is single parents. According to the 2011 census, there are more than 902,000 single parents with children under 15 Go to the news website...

Centrelink benefit news

08 May 2013 | Woman wins test case over Centrelink payments
Thousands of prosecutions against welfare recipients who failed to report changes in circumstances have been thrown into doubt by a High Court ruling Go to the news website...

Single parent news

FTB part A 07 May 2013 | Government scraps plans to increase Family Tax Benefit A in Federal Budget
FAMILIES will miss out on a tax boost worth up to $600 a year after the government confirmed it was scrapping the measure in the upcoming budget Go to the news website...

Mums poverty news

4 May 2013 | Mums turning to crime
THE number of Tasmanian women turning to petty theft has almost doubled since cuts to single-parent welfare Go to the news website...

Mums Health News

Pap smears 30 April 2013 | Women shun cervical cancer tests
Australian women are missing out on an opportunity to eradicate cervical cancer deaths, says a professor who is concerned about the low level of screening. Sexually active women aged 18 to 69 should be screened with a Pap smear every 24 months but participation rates are alarmingly low at 57.5 per cent, according to Cancer Institute NSW Go to the news website...

The price of going to Court

Court costs 29 April 2013 | PJory: The financial cost of seeking justice through the courts is now too high for many Australians
A decent society should provide reasonable access to the justice system for all, not just the very rich, writes Rex Jory. US academic Lawrence Lessig wrote in 2004: "The costs of our legal system are so astonishingly high that justice can practically never be done." Go to the news website...

Mums Health News

RU486 Abortion drug 27 April 2013 | Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee recommends abortion drug RU486 to PBS
FEDERAL Health Minister Tanya Plibersek says government subsidies for the controversial abortion drug RU486 won't lead to more terminations if it's added to the pharmaceutical benefits scheme" Go to the news website...

Newstart mum speaks out

Newstart news 27 April 2013 | This working single mum has news for Julia
WHEN working single mother Kerry Arch approached her local member, Julia Gillard, about being cut from the sole parenting payment and her financial struggles, staff at the electorate office told her to "go and find more hours" Go to the news website...

Children of divorce media

Separation and divorce news 23 April 2013 | Fractured parents, damaged child: how to protect children in separation and divorce
Separation and divorce can evoke feelings of anger, grief and pain—add children to the mix and you have a whole other set of worries. How do parents who can't stand the sight of each other negotiate a good outcome for their children? Go to the news website...

Child Custody Recovery Orders Article

Family Court Recovery Orders 23 April 2013 | Underground networks help parents breach Family Court custody orders
CHURCH and domestic violence groups have been accused of aiding underground networks that help parents breach custody orders and go on the run with their children. Parents, unhappy with Family Court custody decisions, are kidnapping their own children, and are using family, friends and other resources to stay under the radar Go to the news website...

Australian Divorce News

Divorce in Australia latest news 22 April 2013 | Business of divorce gets more lucrative
Falling out of love can be hard on your finances, according to an analysis of the divorce industry. Market research firm IBISWorld identified the key industries that benefit from love gone wrong, including legal services, counsellors, childcare, online dating sites and wedding services for divorcees who remarry Go to the news website...

Four Itallian sisters custody update

4 Itallian sisters custody news 22 April 2013 | Italian father in custody battle sues ex-wife
The father of four Italian sisters caught in an international custody battle is pursuing his Australian former wife for $120,000 in costs he incurred fighting to take his daughters back to Italy Go to the news website...

Working Mothers News

Working mothers 21 April 2013 | Working mothers still plagued by guilt
Guilt is the hardest part about returning to work after maternity leave for one in three mothers and the feeling is made worse by critical employers, colleagues and stay-at-home mothers. Working mothers often feel judged as not doing the right thing by their child or their employer Go to the news website...

Parent Payment Single to Newstart News

Australian Newstart news 16 April 2013 | Billboard to protest cuts to sole parenting payments
A SINGLE mother feels so strongly about cuts to sole parenting payments she's putting her money where her mouth is in the biggest way possible. Rose Ljubicic has taken $3300 out of her own pocket and gone into debt to hire a 4m x 6m billboard on the corner of Bell and High streets in Preston in the lead-up to the May budget Go to the news website...

Australian Divorce News

Australian divorce news 14 April 2013 | Women drive rise in over-50s divorce rates
The number of people over 50 initiating divorce proceedings has doubled over the past 20 years, with experts saying the trend is being driven by women. Figures from the Bureau of Statistics show that in 1991 women over the age of 50 divorcing represented 6.3 per 1000 of the population Go to the news website...

Parenting News

Parenting news 14 April 2013 | Parenting the Digital Generation
When asked about these issues and challenges, nine per cent of parents raised social media and the internet as the most challenging of the many issues they are facing. When they were growing up their own parents were concerned about how much television was viewed, but today kids are linked by a web of telecommunications not just television Go to the news website...

Single Parent welfare cuts

Single parent welfare news 5 April 2013 | Carr questions single mum welfare cuts
Former human services minister Kim Carr says federal government welfare cuts to single parents have strengthened the campaign to increase the Newstart Allowance. As a result, the measure might actually backfire as a cost-saving measure, Senator Carr says Go to the news website...

Single Parent Statistics

2 April 2013 | Home ownership and the single parent
One in six Australian families are single parent families that are struggling to pay the rent, let alone buy a home of their own...According to the latest ABS 2011 Census, there were over 900,000 single parent families comprising almost 16% of all families (that is, families with and without children) or 36% of families with children, in Australia. And what is particularly noteworthy is that this number has grown by almost 80,000 or 10% since the last Census in 2006. So we could be looking at around 1,000,000 single parent families by 2016 if this trend continues Go to the news website...

Single Parent Self-Esteem News

Single parent stigma news 31 March 2013 | Study casts light on the stressfullness of the single parent
Self-esteem plays a key part in a single mother's happiness, but makes little difference to the life satisfaction of single fathers, new research shows Go to the news website...

Australian Divorce News

Divorce news 2 April 2013 | Hike in divorce charges hit unhappy couples hard
FEDERAL Government price hikes for divorce applications mean that unhappy couples are staying in toxic relationships while they save. Lawyers in three different states have warned that increasing administrative fees in the Family Court of Australia by up to 340 per cent was tragic for victims of domestic violence and those struggling to make ends meet Go to the news website...

Call for Centrelink Newstart raise

Newstart welfare news 27 March 2013 | Politicians 'hear' Newstart call
FEDERAL Housing Minister Mark Butler has revealed that the case for a Newstart rise and help for single parents has been heard by the government, joining other ministers who have expressed sympathy for a rise Go to the news website...

Parenting news

Parenting news 26 March 2013 | Are Australian children becoming poor white trash?
POOR kids with English-speaking parents are being left behind at school as Asian students surge ahead, former Labor leader Mark Latham argues in a controversial new article Go to the news website...

Centrelink Newstart news

Centrelink news 21 March 2013 | Single-parent move a 'breach of human rights'
A Labor-dominated parliamentary committee has found that the federal government's move to force single parents off parenting payments, and onto the lower Newstart allowance, could be a breach of their human rights Go to the news website...

Single Parent news

18 March 2013 | Public sympathy grows for single parents' plight
The backlash to the Federal Government's single parent welfare cuts is a sign of the public's softening attitude towards sole parents, writes Adele Horin Go to the news website...

Autism news

Childhood autism news 14 March 2013 | Autism drug to be tested on children
A DRUG that may reverse autism symptoms is to be tested on children with the condition, scientists say. Preliminary results show the drug corrects autism-like symptoms in mice. The drug, Suramin, has been used to treat African sleeping sickness since 1916 Go to the news website...

Family Court news

Family Court news 11 March 2013 | Family Court stops dad putting transfer tattoos on son
A FATHER has been banned from sticking transfer tattoos on his four-year-old son. A court heard the boy was caught in a conflict between the different personalities of each of his parents Go to the news website...

Centrelink Newstart news

Centrelink Newstart news 04 March 2013 | Single parents pleased with UN intervention
Single parents have expressed hope that the input of the United Nations may be enough to persuade the federal government to reverse welfare cuts Go to the news website...

International Womens Day news

International Womens Day news 04 March 2013 | Role models we really admire
Raised by a single mum who had to work two jobs to support her athletic career, Pearson won silver in Beijing in 2008, was the 2011 world champion and became the first Australian to be named the International Association of Athletics federation's 2011 Female Athlete of the Year Go to the news website...



Most Recent Australian Single Parent Statistics...



There were 901,637 Australian single parent families with children under 15 in 2011



82%


or, 743,000 were single mum families, or families "headed" by mothers


Source: 2011 Census


Percentage of Australian families with children aged under 15 headed by a single mother (*2008)

17.7%*


The Northern Territory has the highest rate of single parent families in the country (*2008)


*Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2008


Of the overall number of Divorces in Australia in *2009



49.1%


(49,448) divorces that involved children under the age of 18yrs


*Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, December 2010

Page Ranking Tool

What does it mean to be a single mum?Of course, the

kids

are the most important thing in a single mum's life. Kids are the focus and always have been. But along with the children, there are other matters that can confuse a single mum's life.

Centrelink

plays a big part of a single mother's life, mainly because this is where a large percentage of single mums get their finances from. Centrelink are the source from where the

single mother pension

, or as it is otherwise known, the single parent payment comes from. The single mother pension is a subsistence amount, but just the same, it is money to live on, and so it is important, no matter if it is called single parent payment, single mother pension or whatever Centrelink welfare classes it at the time

Often, single mums come out of a

divorce

or defacto relationship only to find that their troubles have just begun, and find that their first step leads them towards Family Law - it's time to engage a lawyer.
There are more than just Centrelink finance problems to worry about, as mentioned before, but also

child custody

issues. Child custody is something that hits right at the heart of

single mums

. If a single mother's ex husband or ex partner has been a domestic violence perpetrator, the mum may be greatly worried about child custody. They worry that their kids won't be safe with their spouse, who has already proven to be abusive because they caused

domestic violence

, which resulted in a divorce or separation.

Even so,

Family Court

will often still order a form of child custody named

Shared Parenting

. Shared Parenting is a form of child custody division of time or parental responsibility between the parents. Mother's often look for a good divorce lawyer to try to avoid share parenting with an abusive ex-spouse after divorce, however in many cases Shared Parenting is still the outcome after the divorce, no matter how good the divorce lawyers have been. They will often settle for visitation at a contact centre or access centre where fathers or mothers are supervised during child custody access.

Please remember the bigger font words,because we will use it often in our website.