The Parenting Centre

HM Lawyers is proud to welcome Dr. Bob Jacobs to the firm as a part-time family law solicitor. Dr. Bob will be practising using a collaborative model aimed at reducing conflict, achieving solutions, and keeping people out of court, thereby saving them money, time and anguish.

This role will not affect any of Dr. Bob's current activities with The Parenting Centre as a clinical psychologist and mediator.

"Proposed legislation to introduce and enforce a presumption of shared parenting time for separating couples is not in the interests of children, according to a briefing paper published today by the Department of Social Policy and Intervention at the University of Oxford and funded by the Nuffield Foundation.

The term ‘shared parenting’ has no legal status but generally refers to a child spending an equal amount of time with each parent. Two Private Members’ Bills currently before Parliament seek to introduce and enforce a default position that children should spend a substantial amount of time with both parents in the event of separation." Read full article...

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Dr Bob is currenlty organising a petition of professionals (who work with children/families) who are against equal shared care. To see the petition statement please see Petition_Against_Equal_Shared_Care.docx and email Dr Bob at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to add your / your agency's name.

Dr Bob Jacobs from The Parenting Centre was interviewed by ABC Radio's Richard Fidler during the Conversation Hour on August 24th.

Bob spoke about his latest initiatives including his new book and The Parenting Centre's new model of resolving parenting plans for separating couples - Family Resolution. Family Resolution is an alternative to family court that reduces the stress on separating families and leads to better outcomes for children and parents.

You can listen to the audio of Bob's Interview from ABC Brisbane's website at http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2010/08/24/2991932.htm?site=brisbane&microsite=conversations&section=latest .

Now Available! Dr. Bob Jacobs’ unique and inspiring vision for parenting and society. 

Perfect Parents, Perfect Children:  Changing the World By Celebrating Our Perfection.

This book is about changing perspectives about parenting, our children, and ourselves. It advocates for a shift from the traditional ‘reward and punishment’ parenting paradigm to one of demonstrating unconditional acceptance and love, regardlessof our children’s compliance or achievement. Through personal stories of the families Dr. Bob has workedwith this book makes clear that we do not need to ‘control’ or ‘tame’ our children, and suggests ideas of how to eliminate power-struggles and put the joy back into parenting.

Perfect Parents, Perfect Children is about celebrating that we and our children are already perfect, and instilling a steady belief in our intrinsic value, which is not conditional on our achievements.

Separation is never easy for children, but parents have enormous power to help make it better for their children.  Dr. Bob offers eight specific strategies to assist parents in this difficult time.

Dr. Jacobs, and other providers on the Sunshine Coast, have been concerned about the poor quality of some family reports that are the basis for determining parenting plans that have a powerful affect on the development of children of separated parents. Reports done in 2-3 hours in an office are woefully inadequate and reflect a lack of respect for children’s rights, needs and value. Professional family reports cannot be done without home visits.

A group of Sunshine Coast providers have developed a series of standards for family report writers () which we are calling “Gold Standards”. We encourage magistrates, solicitors and parents to only use family report writers who are willing to adhere to these “best practices”.

Download the Gold Standards here.

The Parenting Centre is happy to announce a pilot project in Multi-Disciplinary Family Intervention (MDFI). Sponsored by LIFELINE, this project will allow 6 volunteer couples to go through the process and receive a comprehensive parenting plan which they can turn into consent orders. There is NO COST to participants during the trial (services estimated at $6000 each if paying privately).

For more information, download this flyer.