ABSTRACT
Family systems across Australia could be classified as complex, as they are diverse in structure and representation due to significant change in fertility options, the life expectancy of time spent in relationships (demographically speaking) and a sense of the shifting social, cultural and economical values of Australia in the present day (De Vaus, 2009). No longer are we portrayed as the “typical,” homogenous, traditional, nuclear family presented back in the 1950s era of Australia. Families are diverse and this is highlighted and considered within a myriad of further information or even influence, such as gender, culture, marital status, children; who can be brought into the family system through biological parenting, step-parenting, adoption, or perhaps assisted through in vitro fertilisation (IVF), which enables the eggs of a woman’s ovary to be removed and fertilised with sperm through laboratory processes, and then the fertilised egg is returned back into the woman’s uterus (IVF Australia, 2015). There are also children who come under the guardianship of family members such as older siblings and grandparents as well as family friends. The reasons for these arrangements are complex and may include parental deaths, the inability of a parent/s to carry out adequate parenting, court rulings or simply decisions by biological parents who are struggling for any number of reasons. When I refer to “complex” family systems, it derives from a place of respect and interest associated with the diverse nature of families across the States and Territories of Australia. Our diverse nation is recorded predominantly through the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) information.
