Important Warning For those currently involved in Family Court proceedings (Section 121)

Dear Law Enforcement Officer/ Family Court Investigator
For all legal purposes, please note that: all persons, places, & events discussed on this page are for the purpose of therapeutic enlightenment only, & bear no relation to any real person, place or event. Any resemblance to such is not intentional & must be purely coincidental, as all posts are merely the fictional musings of a fictional person's imagination };-)"

Mel Stewart

(LOL that was fun, but seriously, please take note:)

Section 121 of the Australian Family Law Act 1975 makes it an offense to publish:
a) any information related to any Family Court case/ trial/ proceedings.
b) any information that may identify any person / people (ie: adult/ child/ 3rd party/ litigator/ attorney/ magistrate/ judge/ etc...) involved in family law proceedings, on or in any public or private publication.

I.E. Such information cannot be published in any periodic publication such as a newspaper/ magazine, nor can such information be presented or discussed on the TV or the radio, nor can it be published or written about on any website or blog, including on private pages such as a facebook profile or other such website.

For your own (legal) security, please ensure that none of your posts, comments or publications (whether on your private profile or on a public page) breach this law.

Having said that, it is important to be able to access support, and the most convinient way to do this is via the web. Please know that despite this stoneage law, you can still safely access support (social, legal, mental, pratical, professional), and if you are so inclined, you can even engage in online activism, without breaching this law.

• Never publish "updates" relating to your Family Law Proceedings on your facebook profile or any other online network/ blog (even if your privacy settings are set to private).

• Instead, keep your real facebook profile for "unrelated" blogging, and for anything related to family law, create and use an alias profile on facebook (or any other social network site).
• Do not use a recognisable photograph of yourself for your alias profile, and never upload photo's of yourself, your children, the other party (your ex) or even the family pet on your alias profile.
• Use a separate email adress for your alias profile, and enter false information in the "about me" page. (I said I live in Bermuda, as in the Bermuda Triangle lol).
• If you share your alias profile with family and friends, be sure not to do so with any friends who are "mutually friendly" with you and your ex, or any friends family who are not 100% supportive of you and your children.
• Use only your alias profile when engaging in online activism or seeking support for any matter related to family law.
• Be very careful (even hyper-vigilant) about who you have on your friends list on your alias profile.
• Do not be "friends" with yourself (ie:your real and alias profiles should not be "friends").
• Even when using an alias, be careful not to use identifying factors in your posts such as real names, ages, dates, places, etc...
• Even when using an alias, be careful not to put facts together in such a way that another person may identify you or any other individual or situation related to your family law proceedings.
• Ask friends on your alias profile to be mindful and not share any information that could breach your identity. If anyone objects, they shouldn't be on your alias profile's list (and be wary of them on your other profile too).

TO ALL NON-AUSTRALIANS:

PLEASE NOTE THAT WHILE SECTION 121 COMES SPECIFICALLY UNDER AUSTRALIAN FAMILY LAW, MOST OTHER COUNTRIES (EG: USA; CANADA; UK; ETC...) HAVE SIMILAR LAWS RELATING TO FAMILY COURT PROCEEDINGS. STAY SAFE BY KNOWING THE LAW IN YOUR COUNTRY, AND YOUR RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS AS PERTAINING TO THE RELEVANT LAW IN YOUR COUNTRY.

TO ALL READERS:

IF YOUR FAMILY LAW CASE PROCEEDINGS ARE DUE TO FAMILY VIOLENCE OR CHILD ABUSE, REMEMBER THAT PERPETRATORS OF VIOLENCE ARE ALMOST ALWAYS CALLOUS AND REMORSELESS INDIVIDUALS. THEY WILL GO TO ANY LENGTHS TO HURT YOU, AND MANY HAVE ACCESS TO OTHER UNSAVOURY CONTACTS (ESPECIALLY IF THEY ARE OBTAINING SUPPORT OR ADVICE FROM EXTREME FATHER RIGHTS GROUPS) WHO CAN HACK INTO YOUR ONLINE PROFILES/ EMAIL ACCOUNTS AND EVEN YOUR PERSONAL COMPUTER. EDUCATE YOURSELF ABOUT ALL ASPECTS OF ONLINE SAFETY AND PERSONAL COMPUTER SAFETY. KEEP YOUR INFORMATION SAFE TO KEEP YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN SAFE!!!!

Please join me on FaceBook

• STOP the Violence Against Women & Children
  Organize to Resist! Together we can take on the Predators! Let's Break the Silence to End the Violence by working together to make our voices a Resounding SHOUT!!! Perpetrators BEWARE - you don't stand a chance!

Please Note:

_{All names in this article have been changed for legal purposes and to protect the privacy of the Author. Except where otherwise credited, or where text forms part of an external link, this article is under the following copyright:}

_{Copyright © 2010 Mel Stewart, "safe-at-last", of Perth, Western Australia. All rights reserved.}

_{All persons, places and objects shown in the images in this hub are are shown for illustrative purposes only. They bear no relation to any real person or event. All persons shown are paid models. Unless otherwise credited, all images are under the following copyright:}

_{Copyright © 2010 Mel Stewart, "safe-at-last" and Licensors Nodtronics Pty Ltd. All rights reserved.}