About the study
The study is about how separated parents/caregivers make or change parenting arrangements for children's day-to-day care and contact (what used to be called custody and access). We are interested in the different ways that parents/caregivers make these arrangements, and their experiences of, and satisfaction with, any family justice services they use. We also want to better understand how parents/caregivers make parenting arrangements without using any (or many) of these services.
We are also interested in family justice professional's views on, and experiences with, New Zealand's reformed family justice system.
We want to find out, from both parents/caregivers and professionals, what is working well and whether any improvements are needed to better help separated families. Read the study information sheet for parents/caregivers.
We are also interested in family justice professional's views on, and experiences with, New Zealand's reformed family justice system. Read the study information sheet for professionals.
Research Team
The study is being conducted jointly by the Children’s Issues Centre and the Faculty of Law at the University of Otago.
The research team includes:
- Associate Professor Nicola Taylor (Principal Investigator)
- Dr Megan Gollop (Principal Investigator and Project Manager)
- Professor Mark Henaghan (Principal Investigator)
- Dr Margaret Mitchell (Assistant Research Fellow)
- Dr Claire Cameron (Biostatistician)
- Blair Hughson, Core Development (Website administrator)
- Latafale Auvaa (Interviewer)
- Kyla Mullen (Interviewer)
The Principal Investigators have successfully worked together for over twenty years on five previous family law research projects. Mark Henaghan (Faculty of Law) is New Zealand’s leading authority on family law, and Nicola Taylor and Megan Gollop (Children’s Issues Centre) have considerable experience in socio-legal research concerning parental separation, family dispute resolution, relocation disputes, child inclusive practice, and the perspectives of parents, children and professionals on family law issues.
