Research, policy and practice about children’s contact and shared care in child custody and child protection

Abstract

This chapter explores the ongoing discussions, research, and policy considerations surrounding the amount of time children spend with their non-resident parent, addressing perspectives from both child custody and child protection contexts. The chapter provides an overview of key research findings on parent-child contact, highlighting areas of consensus among custody researchers and identifying aspects that warrant further investigation. It also examines practices adopted by child protection services in Australia regarding contact arrangements. The chapter concludes by noting the significant differences between child protection and child custody systems in terms of their approaches to and perspectives on contact between children and their parents.