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SingleMum.com.au Expert Opinion Panel Members




SingleMum.com.au Expert Opinion Panel members are leaders in their field - and experts in single parent issues. Exclusive single mother interest articles are produced by Expert Opinion Panel members each month, covering a whole range of relevant and up-to-the-minute single parenting issues.

Go to Expert Panel member Dr Elspeth McInnes' Profile Dr Elspeth McInnes AM, family violence, child abuse and child protection expert
Dr Elspeth McINNES AM is a researcher sociologist in the School of Education at the University of South Australia with expertise in areas of family violence, child abuse and child protection. Her research has focused on family separation and divorce, and the policies, practices and institutions which respond to families, particularly those where family violence is an issue.
Go to Dr Elspeth McInnes' Profile Page...


Go to Expert Panel member Jason Bryce's Profile Jason Bryce, Business & Finance Specialist - Brisbane, Queensland
Jason is a business and finance journalist with 20 years experience. He has a regular weekly column in the Sunday Mail (Brisbane) and writes regularly for the Business Daily section of the Herald Sun in Melbourne and many other newspapers and magazines.
Go to Jason Bryce's Profile...


Go to Expert Panel member Freda Brigg's Profile Freda Briggs, Emeritus Professor in Child Development - Adelaide, South Australia
Author Emeritus Professor Freda Briggs AO, Humanitarian and Child Protection Expert, is a researcher and lecturer in sociology, child protection and family studies for the University of South Australia.
Go to Freda Brigg's Profile...


Go to Expert Panel member Dan Davis' Profile Dan Davis, Nutritional Therapist - London, UK
Dan Davis is a Nutritional Therapist based in London and Kent in the UK. Dan found a passion for nutrition after reaching a life threatening weight of 165 kilos. As well as the physical restrictions associated with a body that large, he was suffering crippling gout attacks for which he took endless pain killing and anti-inflammatory drugs, with no understanding of the causes of the condition.
Go to Dan Davis' Profile...


Go to Expert Panel member Pamela Cominos' Profile Pamela Cominos, Lawyer - Sydney, NSW
Pamela holds a Masters of Arts degree together with a Bachelor of Laws Degree from University of New South Wales.
Pamela is passionate about being a lawyer and she is successful in assisting her clients in matters that involve complex parenting and property issues. Pamela is a skilled advocate and will represent you at Court with confidence and care. She is a pragmatic and compassionate solicitor who gives her undivided attention to your matter.
Go to Pamela Cominos' Profile Page...


Go to Expert Panel member Dr Cate Banks' Profile Dr Cate Banks, Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner - Brisbane, Queensland
Cate is the owner and principal of Resolutions, an organisation that has been established by her to find real solutions for people in any form of conflict or disagreement. Cate is a highly experienced and dedicated alternative dispute resolution practitioner. She has has actively conducted more than 600 mediations in a variety of areas including family and relationships and parenting matters.
Go to Dr Cate Banks' Profile...


Go to Expert Panel member Stephen Page's Profile Stephen Page, Lawyer - Brisbane, Queensland
Stephen Page is a partner of Harrington Family Lawyers, one of Brisbane’s oldest boutique family law firms.
Admitted in 1987, Stephen has been an accredited family law specialist since 1996. A co-founder of a domestic violence service, Stephen has been a member since 1999 of a committee for a court based domestic violence service and since 2008 a board member of a charity linking business with the domestic violence sector.
Go to Stephen Page's Profile...


Go to Expert Panel member Charles Pragnell's Profile Charles Pragnell, Advocate for Children and Families - Melbourne, Victoria
Charles Pragnell is an independent Expert Defence Witness for Child Protection and has given evidence to courts in England, Scotland, and New Zealand. Since 1990 he has acted as an advocate/representative for children and families in child protection matters and other proceedings involving various state agencies. Since 1996 he has made special studies of issues involving Munchausen's Syndrome By Proxy, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and Shaken Baby Syndrome.
Go to Charles Pragnell's Profile...


We are always seeking outstanding professionals with a single mum interest and a penchant for writing to join our SingleMum.com.au Expert Panel. For further information, please visit our information webpage here or email us at expertpanel@singlemum.com.au.






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.