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Removing Legal Discrimination Against Children Born Outside Marriage

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 February 2024

Rebecca J. Bailey
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Extract

The First Principle of the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of the Child (1959) states that “The child shall enjoy all the rights set forth in this Declaration. All children, without any exception whatsoever, shall be entitled to these rights, without distinction or discrimination on account of … birth or other status, whether of himself or of his family”. Such a general expression of the desirability of equal rights for all children can be of little practical significance in the absence of positive laws to give substance to its spirit. The Declaration itself recognizes this in its Preamble, which calls upon “… national Governments to recognize these rights and strive for their observance by legislation and other measures”.

Type
Research Article
Information
Children Australia , Volume 4 , Issue 4 , Summer 1979 , pp. 24 - 27
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1979

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References

1. Royal Commission on Human Relationships, Final Report, Vol. 4, Chapter 5, para. 91.Google Scholar
2. Royal Commission on Human Relationships, Final Report, Vol. 4, Chapter 5, para. 107.Google Scholar
3. Cited in Finlay, “Family Law in Australia” (Butterworths, 2nd. ed., 1979). 302.Google Scholar
4. Family Law Act, 1975-1979 (Cth.), s. 5(1).Google Scholar
5. Under S.51 (xxxvii) of the Australian Constitution.Google Scholar
6. Children (Equality of Status) Act 1976 (N.S.W.); Status of Children Act 1978 (Qld.); Family Relationships Act 1975 (S.A.); Status of Children Act 1974 (Tas.); Status of Children Act 1974 (Vic). See also Status of Children Act 1978 (N.T.). In Western Australia no equivalent statute exists, but a similar effect has been achieved by amendments to individual statutes dealing with specific areas such as succession.Google Scholar
7. Status of Children Act 1969 (N.Z.)Google Scholar
8. See also Children (Equality of Status) Act 1976 (N.S.W) s.6; Status of Children Act 1978 (Qld.) S.3; Family Relationships Act (S.A.) s.6; Status of Children Act 1974 (Tas.) s.3.Google Scholar
9. Children (Equality of Status) Act 1976 (N.S.W.) ss.11, 12, 13; Status of Children Act 1978 (Qld.) s.6; Family Relationships Act 1975 (S.A.) s.7; Status of Children Act 1974 (Tas.) s.7; Status of Children Act 1974 (Vic.) s.7.Google Scholar
10. Supra., n.8.Google Scholar
11. Adoption of Children Act 1964 (N.S.W.) S.26; 1964 (Qld.) S.19; 1967-78 (S.A.) S.21; 1968 (Tas.) s.21; 1964 (Vic.) S.23; 1896-1976 (W.A.) S.4A.Google Scholar
12. Family Law Act, 1975-1979 (Cth.) s.22.Google Scholar
13. Family Law Act, 1975-1979 (Cth.) s.97.Google Scholar
14. Family Law Act, 1975-1979 (Cth.) Part VII generally.Google Scholar
15. Family Law Act, 1975-1979 (Cth.) Part VII generally. s.37(8).Google Scholar