Article type: Original Research
21 March 2017
Volume 42 Issue 3
Article type: Original Research
21 March 2017
Volume 42 Issue 3
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A Study of the use of Section 106a of the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 in the New SouthWales Children's Court
Frank Ainsworth1 * 
Patricia Hansen2,3
Affiliations
1 School of Social Work and Human Services, Townsville campus, Townsville, Queensland, 4811, James Cook University, Australia
2 Hansen Legal, Parramatta, NSW, 2150, Australia
3 Australian Catholic University, Sydney, NSW, 2135, Australia
Correspondence
*Dr Frank Ainsworth
Contributions
Frank Ainsworth -
Patricia Hansen -
Frank Ainsworth1 *
Patricia Hansen2,3
Affiliations
1 School of Social Work and Human Services, Townsville campus, Townsville, Queensland, 4811, James Cook University, Australia
2 Hansen Legal, Parramatta, NSW, 2150, Australia
3 Australian Catholic University, Sydney, NSW, 2135, Australia
Correspondence
*Dr Frank Ainsworth
CITATION: Ainsworth F., & Hansen P. (2017). A Study of the use of Section 106a of the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 in the New SouthWales Children's Court. Children Australia, 42(3), 2079. doi.org/10.1017/cha.2017.8
Abstract
This study examines the use of section 106A of the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 in the New South Wales in Children's Court. Section 106A was inserted into the Act by way of an amendment in November 2006. This amendment establishes that if a child has previously been removed from parental care and not restored to the parents, then that is prima facie evidence that any subsequent child born to these parents is in need of care and protection and can be subject to removal. The parents must then rebut this evidence if they are to recover or retain custody of the new born child. To date, no data exists about the use of this section of the Act, hence this study. The only significant finding was that if section 106A was cited in Court documents, then restoration of a child to family is less likely. The analysis did not show any significant relationship between Aboriginality and any of the other variables in the study.