108. Working as intended - Part 1: What your lawyer was taught (and what they weren't)

What your family lawyer was taught - and what they weren't.  The first of four episodes on the architecture of the Australian family law system.  Eleven mandatory areas of study to be admitted as a lawyer in Australia. Family law isn't one of them. The system isn't rigged. It isn't broken. It's working exactly as it was designed to - and the problem is what it was designed for. This is the first of a four-part series on the architecture of the Australian family law system. The system was built to adjudicate disputes between adult parties - to resolve property, allocate parenting time, and produce court orders. It was not built, in its foundations, to see children.  And when we ask that architecture to do something it was never built to do, it produces, predictably, the outcomes we often see - children ordered into arrangements that are at best inappropriate, and at worst doing serious and lasting harm that could be prevented. In this first episode, I look at one of those foundations: how the lawyers inside the system were trained.  There are eleven mandatory areas of study required to be admitted as a lawyer in Australia - known as the Priestley 11. None of them is family law. None of them is coercive control. None of them is child development. None of them is trauma. None of them is post-separation abuse. A specialisation that, for most family lawyers, rests on a single elective subject - if it was taken at all - and on whatever they "pick up on the job". This is the foundation. And it is producing, predictably, what foundations like this produce. In this episode: • The focus: the system is working as designed; the problem is what it was designed for • The Priestley 11 - the eleven mandatory areas of study to become an Australian lawyer, none of which is family law • Why this is a structural argument, not an attack on individual family lawyers • And, in the closing minutes - what practising family lawyers themselves say about the training gap, in their own words For protective parents navigating this system, the work I do in the Blueprint is built for exactly this - becoming the expert in your own situation, because, as this episode shows, the people advising you may not be. It's there if and when you want to go deeper. Coming next: what an Independent Children's Lawyer (ICL) actually is, and what an ICL was actually trained to do. Support: If you are in Australia and need to talk to someone, 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732) is available 24/7. In an emergency, call 000. Explore the supports offered by Danielle Black Coaching The Post-Separation Parenting Blueprint™ 👉 https://www.danielleblackcoaching.com... AI Danielle - Your 24/7 Digital Coach 👉 https://www.danielleblackcoaching.com... 1:1 Coaching 👉 https://www.danielleblackcoaching.com... The music you hear in this outro is 'Calm is Credible' - an original track created exclusively for the Post-Separation Abuse Podcast and Danielle Black Coaching.  You can listen to this song, or download free, by visiting danielleblackcoaching.com.au (https://www.danielleblackcoaching.com.au) About Danielle Black Coaching: Danielle Black is a respected authority in child-focused post-separation parenting in Australia. With over twenty years’ experience across education, counselling and coaching - alongside her own lived experience navigating a complex separation and family court journey - she supports parents to think strategically, build capacity, and protect their children’s safety and wellbeing within complex legal and relational systems. Through Danielle Black Coaching, she leads a growing team of specialist coaches and a structured support ecosystem designed to provide professionally held, evidence-informed guidance for parents navigating high-conflict separation and family court processes. Learn more at danielleblackcoaching.com.au (https://danielleblackcoaching.com.au/) This podcast is for educational purposes only and not legal advice. Please seek independent legal, medical, financial, or mental health advice for your situation.