Title:	EXPLORING DIGITAL DIVIDES IN THE NEW ZEALAND FAMILY COURT
Author(s):	Kay Fielden
ISBN:	978-972-8924-61-4
Editors:	Gunilla Bradley
Year:	2008
Edition:	Single
Keywords:	Community informatics, Family Court, New Zealand, Digital Divide
Type:	Full Paper
First Page:	147
Last Page:	154
Language:	English
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Full Contents:	click to dowload
Paper Abstract:	This paper explores ICT-enabled communication for children in separated families in New Zealand and for the families themselves in their communication with the public sphere and with public authority. Within the multiple private spaces occupied by the post-separation family, financial, custodial and technological inequalities are likely to exist. Results to date suggest that a significant catalyst for children’s voices is the higher ICT skill level that they possess. In many cases, children’s skill levels are higher than their parents. Whilst ICT is valued by legal practitioners to facilitate running their own businesses, they do not recognize the importance of ICT for children and their parents. Furthermore, members of the helping professions do not possess high ICT skill levels and do not perceive the use of ICT as a means of representing children’s views or those of their parents. This particular digital divide is impacted by: imbalances in stakeholder skill levels; existing power differentials associated with roles within the New Zealand Family Court; the changing nature of the public/private spaces in which families find themselves as they move through the Family Court processes; and the socio-economic changes that manifest on separation.
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