My understanding is that in Australia and in all the states that tried the presumption of shared parenting, they withdrew it. Only Kentucky continues to have that presumption.
Since the last time we reformed the Divorce Act, we've had a lot more encouragement of alternative dispute resolution and of professionals to screen for domestic violence. The result has been a tremendous increase in shared parenting, co-operatively among parents. There is nothing to prevent parents from working out an arrangement of equal parenting if that makes sense to them in their circumstances. Parents have gone from almost a minimal involvement of fathers to a far greater increase in fathers' involvement in the last 30 years. That's been a good thing, and it's largely been the result of consensual dispute resolution in cases that warrant it.
When we talk about the idea of all these trials, only 1% to 2% of family cases end up in trials, but they do spend an awfully long time and a lot of wasted money working their way through the court system. What I really like about this legislation is that it does put a focus on concern about safety and if you manage to get over that hurdle, encouraging people to use consensual dispute resolution results in lots of sharing, but sharing based on the unique circumstances of the family. What's the availability of both parents, based on their work schedule? What's the age of the children? Do they have mental health or addiction issues that need to be addressed? Do they have special needs children? It works out a parenting plan that is unique for the family.