Hong Kong's Law Reform Commission recommended the joint parental responsibility model into Hong Kong's family law in 2005. A public consultation on whether to implement the model by legislative means was launched in late 2011. An Internet search and secondary analysis of public opinion about the model and its legislation was conducted. It was found that stakeholders held diverse opinions on the legislation of the model. The greatest concern is over the inadequate support to facilitate a workable relationship between separated/divorced parents, and the methods used in protecting victims of domestic violence from ongoing abuse due to the continuous contact with the abusive parent necessitated by the model. Non-resident parents are invisible in the debate. Their absence in the debate has made the consultation a partial and incomplete one, though it saves the discussion from a gender competition between fathers' rights and mothers' rights. Taking a historical and comparative perspective, this paper makes a comprehensive review of the debate in Hong Kong, with reference to the debate at an international level. Implications to the social work profession and social work practice are discussed.

香港法律改革委員會於2005年建議在香港的家庭法中加入共同父母責任模式，並於2011年下旬探討應否以立法形式向公眾咨詢。本研究就公眾對該模式和相關法例的意見進行了一次互聯網調查和二手資料分析，發現利益相關者對以立法形式推行此模式有不同的意見；當中他們最關心的問題是：協助分居／離婚的父母建立一種可行關系的支援不足；如何避免家庭暴力受害者因持續接觸分居/離婚伙伴而繼續受害。研究亦看不到有關非本地父母的討論；缺少非本地父母的討論令此法律咨詢變得片面和不完整，而且此咨詢也缺乏從性別角度討論父母權利間的差異。本文以歷史和比較的角度，參考了國際層面的討論後，對香港的有關討論作了綜合性的回顧。本文亦探討了該議題對社會工作專業和實踐的啟示。

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