The Australian Family Movement was a minor

familialist Familialism or familism is an ideology that puts priority to family. The term ''familialism'' has been specifically used for advocating a welfare system wherein it is presumed that families will take responsibility for the care of their members ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n political party formed in 1974 and active throughout the 1970s and 1980s. It originally came out of a group created to oppose the stage show ''

Hair Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and f ...

'' in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

(this group was successful in convincing the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

state government to ban the show). The party generally stood for conservative Christian principles, and was particularly opposed to

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...

, transvestism and androgyny, believing them "contrary to the natural order"; and to

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

and

euthanasia Euthanasia (from el, εὐθανασία 'good death': εὖ, ''eu'' 'well, good' + θάνατος, ''thanatos'' 'death') is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different eut ...

, placing emphasis on the "dignity and sanctity of all human life, especially at its beginning and at its end". According to the Australian Electoral Commission, the Australian Family Movement was registered on 9 August 1984 and deregistered on 25 May 1990. The party's ACT division, the Family Team, won a seat in the Australian Capital Territory House of Assembly in 1979, with party leader Bev Cains entering the House. She was joined by Betty Hocking in 1982, who served one term. Cains held her seat until the abolition of the House of Assembly, when she was defeated in an attempt to transfer to the new Legislative Assembly at the

1989 Australian Capital Territory general election Elections to the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly were held on Saturday, 4 March 1989. This was the first direct election by voters in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) for their own legislative body. The Labor Party, led ...

. Cains stood again for the Assembly in the

1992 Australian Capital Territory general election Elections to the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly were held on Saturday, 15 February 1992, alongside a referendum on an electoral system for future elections. The incumbent Labor Party, led by Rosemary Follett, was challenged b ...

, but the Family Team had by then been disbanded, and she was a candidate for the Better Management Team.

References

Christian political parties in Australia Christian democratic parties in Oceania Christian political parties Defunct political parties in Australia Political parties established in 1974 Political parties disestablished in 1990 1974 establishments in Australia 1990 disestablishments in Australia {{Australia-party-stub