Cheryl Parrott, a counsellor at Rich Relationships in Sydney, Australia, implied same-sex relationships could be unsafe for children, in comments made public last Tuesday.

“Research has shown that children are safest in their biological families," she wrote in a submission to a Senate inquiry. "That the highest rate of child abuse is usually perpetrated by an adult not the biological parent of a child. In a same-sex relationship one (if not both) of the adults will not be the biological parent of that child.”

Philip Armstrong, ACA chief executive, said he believed Parrott had taken research about non-biological parental figures such as stepmothers, stepfathers, aunts, uncles and grandparents, and incorrectly applied it to same-sex parented families.



He criticised her connection of the two as unfounded and unscientific: "She's fleshing that out – it’s like saying that there [are] more rapes in summer and people eat more ice cream in summer, so there’s a connection between ice cream and rape. The problem is a lot of people – not just counsellors – a lot of people in allied health are not trained to read research."

Parrott made her comments in a public submission to the current Senate inquiry into the government’s proposed draft Marriage Equality Bill.

It is unknown what research she was referring to in her submission.



A 2013 literature review published by the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS), the government's key research body in the area of family wellbeing, said there was "strong evidence same-sex parented families constitute supportive environments in which to raise children".

A 2016 fact sheet published by AIFS stated "children from same-sex parented families progress emotionally, socially and educationally at the same rate as other children".