This study was conducted as part of a collaborative research project led by the Supreme Court of Indonesia (Mahkamah Agung Republik Indonesia—MA) with the assistance of the Family Court of Australia and the AusAID-funded Indonesia Australia Legal Development Facility (IALDF) from 2007–2009. Four different research components made up the study that examined the level of satisfaction of justice seekers who were able to access the Indonesian courts for their family law matters and whether there were sections of the community who were unable to bring their family law cases to the courts and the reasons why. This report outlines one of the research components that examined the barriers faced by female heads of household in the PEKKA organization, the majority of whom live under the Indonesian poverty line, in bringing their family law cases to the courts as a way of assessing barriers generally faced by women, the poor or those living in remote areas.

This report outlines the available statistics for female-headed households in Indonesia and the PEKKA organization whose members agreed to be surveyed as part of the study. It explores why it is important for Indonesian women and their children to have legal marriage, divorce and birth certificate and why these documents are important for female heads of household and their children in terms of accessing broader public services such as the government’s poverty alleviation programs and education.

This report presents the key research findings in relation to PEKKA members’:

1. income levels and ability to access government poverty programs,
2. ability to obtain legal marriage, divorce and birth certificates for themselves and their children (and considers reasons why access to government agencies and courts may be limited for PEKKA members), and
3. education levels and that of their dependants (and compares this with national data on educational attainment).