Cumulative Harm for Children Involved in Family Law Proceedings

Cumulative harm refers to the impact of several adverse experiences, on an individual's well-being. Within the family law system in Australia, although the impact of high conflict separation has attracted research, cumulative harm in circumstances where a child has not seen a parent for a period of time and is then reunified with them, has not been extensively explored. Other aspects of potential harm for children who become embroiled in the adversarial family law system has not been considered in a collective context. There are distinct touchpoints of potential harm that ought to be subjected to cumulative harm evaluation if the long term consequences are to be mitigated.