More children are being raised without a father in the household, a fathers' rights activist claimed yesterday.

And Childwatch spokesman Eddie Fisher called on Government to scrap the system by which the courts decide how much time parents are allowed to spend with their children.

He was speaking after legislation was tabled last week which tries to address the inequalities experienced by unmarried fathers, who are currently not afforded the same custody rights over children as mothers.

The Children Amendment Act also seeks to remove any distinction in law between children born in or out of wedlock.

Family Learning Centre director Martha Dismont welcomed the changes and said they were something she thought were a long time in coming.

"I was quite excited to hear that they were reviewing it," she said. "These amendments will help bring the law up into the 21st century."

She added: "It seems that Government has expressed an interest in making sure parents are more accountable, at the same time as providing them with the proper support."

While Mr. Fisher welcomed the fact that Government recognises the law is "discriminatory", he said: "In order to right the wrongs that exist, the entire system needs to be scrapped."

He added: "These amendments will not work. They will change little or nothing. People ask where are all the fathers these days. The fact is many are being legally ordered out of any meaningful interaction with their children."

He said unmarried fathers needed a "concrete assurance" that mothers will not be given more weight in custody matters and added that the only way to do this was make it so the process was not dependent on the courts.

"Judges are, on a daily basis, separating children from their fathers. We have to have a system where both parents play equal roles in raising the children unless one is found to be unwilling, unable or unworthy."

He continued: "In order to address the inherent bias, we feel there should be an inquiry into how the current law, as well as some judges, lawyers, social services case workers and selfish, abusive parents, remove the presence of numerous good fathers from their children's lives."

Mr. Fisher called the law "hideously outdated" and said it was open to "wide ranging interpretation" by judges.

"These amendments will not change the effect on children at all. Many mothers see no benefit in allowing a father to have any input into the life of a child who the mother views as her property."

One unmarried father, who asked not to be named, agreed and said: "This legislation is just something for the public. There is no substance to it because it gives me the same rights as someone who was married at the time they had their kids, but they don't have any rights anyway.

"This is a puff of smoke. I don't know why Government did it, maybe because there is an election coming up."