Staff Profile

Dr Rae Kaspiew
Senior Research Fellow

BA (Melb), LLB(Hons) (Melb), PhD (Melb), GDLP (ANU)

Biography

Dr Rae Kaspiew is a socio-legal researcher with particular expertise in family law and family violence. Her area of specialization is in the design and implementation of research programs related to the impact of legislation and dispute resolution programs, including quantitative approaches based on archival data (especially court files and judgments). She managed the Legislation and Courts Project, one of the three main projects that contributed to the Evaluation of the 2006 Family Law reforms research program and is the lead author of the Evaluation report. Her current project involves the evaluation of an AGD-funded pilot program called Co-ordinated Family Dispute Resolution, which is an intensively case-managed, multi-disciplinary approach to resolving parenting disputes where there has been a history of violence. The conduct of ethically-sensitive research, such as that involving alleged perpetrators and alleged victims of family violence, is a particular area of interest.

In addition to her role at AIFS, Rae is a member of the Family Law Council, a body that provides policy advice on the Family Law to the federal Attorney General.  Throughout 2010 she has been co-ordinating the Council’s work addressing on a reference that examines how the family law system meets the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and what improvements may be required. This has involved conducting consultations with relevant groups, including Aboriginal organizations and other service providers. She was a member of the Violence Against Women Advisory Group that advised the federal Minister for the Status of Women on the implementation of the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women.

Rae is an external supervisor for a PhD being undertaken by Ms Briony Horsfall at Swinburne University which is examining child representation in Children’s Court child protection matters. She is also on the Editorial Board of the Australian Journal of Family Law. In May 2010, she gave evidence before a House of Commons Justice Select Committee inquiring into the working of the UK family courts on the impact of the 2006 family law reforms in Australia.

Current research activities

• Family law (including dispute resolution approaches where there has been family violence)
• Child protection
• Family violence

Specialist areas

• Socio-legal research in family and criminal law
• Children’s interests in legal contexts
• Family violence

Selected recent publications

• Weston, R, Qu L, Gray, M, De Maio, J, Kaspiew, R, Moloney, L, Hand, K (2011) Shared care-time: an increasingly common arrangement? Family Matters, 88, 51.
• Kaspiew, R., Gray, M., & others (2011). Legislative aspirations and social realities: Empirical reflections on Australia’s 2006 family law reform. Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law, December.
• Kaspiew, R., & Moore, S., (2011) Family Law Update, Family Matters, 88, 65.
• Higgins, D. J., & Kaspiew, R. (2011). Child protection and family law… Joining the dots (NCPC Issues 34). Melbourne: National Child Protection Clearinghouse at the Australian Institute of Family Studies.
• Kaspiew R., Behrens J., & Smyth B. (2011). Relocation disputes in separated families prior to the 2006 reforms: an empirical study. Family Matters No 86, 72.
• Kaspiew R. (2011). Founded on observation of the seen heavens: Empirical evidence in family law. Family Matters, 86, 5.
• Kaspiew R., Gray M., Weston R., Moloney L., Hand K., & Qu L. (2011). The AIFS evaluation of the 2006 family law reforms: A summary. Family Matters, 86, 8.
• Weston, R., Qu, L., Gray, M., Kaspiew, R., Moloney, L., Hand, K., and the Family Law Evaluation Team (2011). Care-time arrangements after the 2006 reforms: Implications for children and their parents. Family Matters, 86, 19–32.
• Moloney, L., Kaspiew, R., De Maio, J., Deblaquiere, J., & Horsfall, B. (2011) Evaluation of the family relationships centre legal partnerships program. Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies.
• Kaspiew, R., De Maio, J., Deblaquiere, J., & Horsfall, B. (2011), Evaluation of the Co-ordinated Family Dispute Resolution Pilot: Interim Report (unpublished, prepared on a confidential basis).
• Kaspiew, R., Gray M., Weston R., Moloney, L., Qu L,. & the Family Law Evaluation Team. (2010) The Australian Institute of Family Studies' evaluation of the 2006 family law reforms: key findings, Australian Journal of Family Law, 24(1), 5-33.
• Behrens J., Smyth B., & Kaspiew R. (2010). Outcomes in relocation cases: Some new data. Australian Journal of Family Law, 24(1), 97.
• Horsfall, B., & Kaspiew, R. (2010). Relocation in separated and non-separated families: equivocal evidence from the social science literature. Australian Journal of Family Law 24(1), 97.
• Kaspiew, R., Gray M., Weston R., Moloney, L., Qu L., & the Family Law Evaluation Team (2009). Evaluation of the 2006 family law reforms. Australian Institute of Family Studies.
• Behrens, J., Smyth, B., & Kaspiew, R. (2009). Australian family law court decisions on relocation: Dynamics in parents' relationships over time. Australian Journal of Family Law, 23.
• Kaspiew, R. (2008). Family Violence in children’s cases under the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth): Past practice and future challenges. Journal of Family Studies, 279, 14(2-3).
• Higgins, D., & Kaspiew, R. (2008). Mind the gap: Protecting children in family law children’s cases. Australian Journal of Family Law, 22, 235.
• Kaspiew, R. (2007). Empirical insights into parental attitudes and children’s interests in Family Court litigation. Sydney Law Review, 29(1), 131.
• Kaspiew, R. & Behrens, J. (2007). Chapter 5 - Family Violence: Fragmented Legal Responses. Australian Family Law: The Contemporary Context. Belinda Fehlberg and Juliet Behrens, Oxford University Press.
• Kaspiew, R. (2005). Violence in Contested Children's Cases: An Empirical Exploration. Australian Journal of Family Law. 19(2), 112-143.

Submissions

• Appeared before House of Commons Justice Select Committee Inquiring into the operation of the family courts, May 2011.
• (with Lixia Qu) Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs. Inquiry into the Family Law Amendment (De Facto Financial Matters and Other Measures) Bill. Submission on the characteristics of de facto families, 2008.