This course is a socio-legal exploration of some of the issues relating to families in Australia. Through a critique of the law the course aims to address the ways that the state operates to regulate, maintain and control the notion of family. The course considers the history of family law in Australia and traces the changing nature of the family and the ways that the law has dealt with that change. Topical issues such as fathers' rights, same-sex relationships, indigenous concerns and the implications of artificial conception are canvassed. Concepts of parenting and parental responsibilities, children's rights (including the issue of child abuse), the financial issues relating to separation and divorce, and family reforms are discussed.