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Rance & Shorrock & Anor [2013] FCCA 805 (5 July 2013)

Last Updated: 26 August 2013

FEDERAL CIRCUIT COURT OF AUSTRALIA

RANCE & SHORROCK & ANOR


Catchwords:
FAMILY LAW – Parenting – geographical challenges – siblings separated (one child living with father, the other child living with maternal grandmother) – request for s.91B Department of Human Services intervention.


Legislation:

Cases cited:
Goode & Goode [2006] FamCA 1346


Applicant:
MS RANCE

First Respondent:
MR SHORROCK

Second Respondent:
MS RANCE

File Number:
LEC 1 of 2013

Judgment of:
Judge Altobelli

Hearing date:
4 July 2013

Date of Last Submission:
4 July 2013

Delivered at:
Sydney

Delivered on:
5 July 2013


REPRESENTATION

Solicitors for the Applicant:
Filewood Carty Lawyers

Solicitor for the First Respondent:
Claire Heaton Solicitor

The Second Respondent (self-represented)

ORDERS

THE COURT ORDERS PENDING FURTHER ORDER THAT:

(1) The child X born (omitted) 2011 (X) live with the Father.
(2) In 8 weeks from the date of these Orders, the maternal Grandmother is to bring the child Y born (omitted) 2009 (Y) to Sydney and the Father is to bring the child X to Sydney for two consecutive days as agreed or in the absence of agreement Saturday and Sunday. On the first day Y is to spend 2 hours with the Father and X as agreed or from 1:00pm to 3:00pm and on the second day X is to spend 2 hours with the maternal Grandmother and Mother and Y as agreed or from 1:00pm to 3:00pm.
(3) Thereafter in 8 weeks from the visit referred to in Order 2 above, the maternal Grandmother is to bring the child Y to Sydney and the Father is to bring the child X to Sydney for two consecutive days as agreed or in the absence of agreement Saturday and Sunday. On the first day Y is to spend 4 hours with the Father and X as agreed or from 11:00am to 3:00pm and on the second day X is to spend 4 hours with the maternal Grandmother and Mother and Y as agreed or from 11:00am to 3:00pm.
(4) Thereafter in 8 weeks from the visit referred to in Order 3 above, the maternal Grandmother is to bring the child Y to Sydney and the Father is to bring the child X to Sydney for two consecutive days as agreed or in the absence of agreement Saturday and Sunday. On the first day Y is to spend 6 hours with the Father and X as agreed or from 11:00am to 5:00pm and on the second day X is to spend 6 hours with the maternal Grandmother and Mother as agreed or from 11:00am to 5:00pm.
(5) Thereafter in 8 weeks from the visit referred to in Order 4 above and thereafter for 4 visits every 8 weeks, the maternal Grandmother is to bring the child Y to Sydney and the Father is to bring the child X to Sydney for three consecutive days as agreed or in the absence of agreement Saturday, Sunday and Monday. On the first day Y is to spend time with the Father and X as agreed or from 10:00am Saturday until 10:00am Sunday and from 10:00am Sunday to 10:00am Monday X is to spend time with the maternal Grandmother and Mother.
(6) Thereafter every 8 weeks the Father will spend time with Y from 10:00am Saturday or such other day as mutually agreed to 10:00am the following Saturday and from the conclusion of that visit the maternal Grandmother is to spend time with X from 10:00am that Saturday to 10:00am the following Saturday. Changeover of the children is to take place in Sydney with the maternal Grandmother bringing the child Y from (omitted) to Sydney for changeover and the Father bringing X to Sydney from Canberra.
(7) Unless otherwise agreed the changeover will be at the home of the paternal Grandfather, Mr R.
(8) The child Y lives with the maternal Grandmother.
(9) The Father and the maternal Grandmother have day to day responsibility for the children in their care.
(10) The Father, Mother and maternal Grandmother have equal shared parental responsibility for the children.
(11) Both parties be restrained from:

THE COURT FURTHER ORDERS THAT:

(12) The matter be set down for 3 day Final Hearing on 29 – 31 January 2014 at 10:00am.
(13) The parties are to file and serve any further material on which they seek to rely no later than 20 December 2013.
(14) The Applicant is to comply with the payment of any setting down and/or daily hearing fee in accordance with Rules 24.03 and 24.04 of the Federal Circuit Court Rules 2001 or as otherwise directed by the Registry Manager by the date of filing of further material.
(15) No later than three (3) working days prior to hearing each party forward to my Associate a document setting out:
(16) Leave be granted to the parties to relist the matter on 72 hours’ notice.
(17) The proceedings be adjourned to 20 August 2013 at 9:30am in Sydney for mention via teleconference.
(18) Dial the teleconference Access Number (omitted).
(19) At the prompt, enter (omitted) followed by the hash (#) key.
(20) Pursuant to section 68L of the Family Law Act 1975 an Independent Children’s Lawyer be appointed for the children X born (omitted) 2011 and Y born (omitted) 2009 and the Legal Aid Commission of NSW is requested to provide such representation.
(21) The parties provide to the Legal Aid Commission of NSW, PO Box K847 HAYMARKET forthwith all documents thus far filed in these proceedings by the party together with all existing orders and copies of any relevant reports.
(22) Pursuant to s91B of the Family Law Act 1975 that the Department of Community Services intervene in these proceedings. Upon request, the Court provide to the Department of Community Services copies of all documentation relevant to the proceedings before the court to enable it to consider the request to intervene in the proceedings.

IT IS NOTED that publication of this judgment under the pseudonym Rance & Shorrock is approved pursuant to s.121(9)(g) of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth).

FEDERAL CIRCUIT COURT OF AUSTRALIA
AT SYDNEY

LEC 1 of 2013

MS RANCE

Applicant

And

MR SHORROCK

First Respondent

MS RANCE

Second Respondent

ORAL REASONS FOR JUDGMENT

  1. This case is about two children - Y, born (omitted) 2009 who is four years old and X, born (omitted) 2011 who is two years old. The applicant is the maternal grandmother. She lives in (omitted) and is 49 years old. The respondent is the children’s father. He lives in Canberra and is 23 years old. The second respondent is the mother. She lives in (omitted) and is 24 years old.
  2. Y lives with the grandmother in (omitted). X lives with the father in Canberra, and this has been the case for about a year. The mother appears to live with the grandmother in (omitted). At the outset I want to say that at an interim level, it is quite irrelevant how the present situation has arisen. The fact is that X has not seen his mother, grandmother, or brother for about a year. There is nothing the Court can do to change that. At a final hearing, the circumstances that led to this most unsatisfactory situation will no doubt be explored in much more detail.
  3. I am sure submissions will be made about how this reflects on the attitudes, responsibilities and the parenting capacities of the parents. But for today, in the context of an interim application it is quite irrelevant. The fact is, as I said, that X has not seen significant members of his family for an extended period of time. One of the practical issues in this case is that the parties are dependent on Centrelink benefits, although the grandmother’s income is supplemented by some part-time work.
  4. Another reality is the distance that separates (omitted) from Canberra, and the logistical challenges in travelling between these areas for a socially disadvantaged family. Based on all of the evidence that is available before the Court today, which includes the affidavits filed by the parties as well as the documents produced on subpoena by the Department of Community Services and the New South Wales Police, it is possible to make some observations that are akin to uncontested facts, or certainly facts that are hard to contest given the evidence before the Court.
  5. It seems, for example, that Y has always been cared for by his grandmother though with different and varying levels of assistance from both the mother and the father in the past. It seems that X was also cared for by his grandmother after his birth for a period of months. It seems from the evidence that the grandmother has consistently had concerns about the capacity that both the mother and the father to adequately parent the children. It seems from the evidence that the parental relationship has been a volatile one, as indeed has been the relationship between the grandmother and her daughter, that is to say the mother.
  6. It seems from the evidence that the mother has had past drug issues, but the ongoing nature of that is an unknown. It seems that the father suffers from a number of disabilities and is currently in a relationship and he and his partner are both expecting a child. It seems from the evidence that the family identifies as being of indigenous background. It seems that the mother’s participation in these proceedings has been limited in the sense that she has appeared before me in Coffs Harbour, indicated that she would be getting legal advice and representation and is present this morning by telephone as I pronounce these reasons.
  7. It seems that based on what the mother previously told me that she supports the grandmother’s proposal for the children to live with her. And it seems from the Department of Community Services file that the parents and the children were involved with Brighter Futures in the past, especially at the time of X’s birth. As I say, all of the matters I have recited above seem to be relatively uncontentious, are drawn from the affidavits and the documents that have been presented on subpoena.
  8. At the interim hearing yesterday, the grandmother’s proposal was contained in the outline of case document prepared by her solicitor, and I will simply incorporate the orders into these my oral reasons. In effect, she proposed that the children be reunited and live with her, that the children spend time with the mother as agreed between the mother and the grandmother, and the children spend time with the father as agreed between the grandmother and the father. The mother’s proposal seems to have supported what the grandmother was advancing.
  9. The father’s proposal is contained in his response filed 3 July 2013, which I incorporate into these, my oral reasons. For all practical purposes, he is proposing that on an interim basis the existing situation be maintained with X remaining in his care and Y remaining in the grandmother’s care. But he makes a proposal for there to be contact between the children and the parents.
  10. The applicable law is of course contained in Part VII of the Family Law Act. The objects and principles of Part VII are set out at s. 60B:
  11. At the very core of the new Part VII of the Family Law Act 1975 is the creation of a presumption of equal shared parental responsibility in s.61DA. Section 61DA provides:
  12. If the presumption applies, I am required to consider certain things:
  13. Because s.65DAA refers to the best interests of the child I must then go back to consider s.60CC which specifies how I must determine what is in a child’s best interests.
  14. In MRR v GR [2010] HCA 4 the High Court said
  15. A little later in the judgment the High Court said:
  16. The Full Court’s decision in Goode & Goode [2006] FamCA 1346 provides some guidance about the interpretation of that section and the way to proceed and I will incorporate into these reasons a number of paragraphs from the Full Court’s judgment.
  17. Let me discuss some of the evidence and how the law applies to it. As I have said before, there is no point lamenting the very unsatisfactory state of affairs that exists as a result of what has happened in the past. And there is no point lamenting the complexity of the problem that confronts the parents and indeed the Court.
  18. The fact is that X has not seen his mother, grandmother, or brother for about a year. In all likelihood if he has a memory of who these people are, it is a distant one. In all likelihood and simply drawing on my experience in this jurisdiction, the main adult person in X’s life is his father.
  19. The question for the Court is whether that relationship should be disrupted now suddenly and, in the practical circumstances of this case, for an extended period, in order to reunite X with his mother, grandmother and brother. Whilst this might be the outcome on a final basis, it cannot be the outcome on an interim basis.
  20. This case is really about the least of the worst options in an entirely unsatisfactory situation that has been created. The Court assesses that maintaining the status quo – that is to say, keep the children where they are for now – is the least of the worst options. The Court will appoint an Independent Children’s Lawyer on an urgent basis. The Court will issue an order under section 91B of the Act inviting the Department to become involved in the case. Not just because there are concerns about both the mother and the father, and to a lesser extent the grandmother, but with a view to seeing if the Department can bring some resources to this case that will facilitate the contact and communication between young children and parents in the considerable geographical challenges thrown up by this case.
  21. There are too many unknowns in this case to make the drastic changes that the grandmother and the mother proposes. For example, we do not know what the impact on X would be of suddenly being taken away from the only – or the main adult figure he has known for half of his short life. Especially in circumstances where the capacity of the parties to make any form of contact and communication work is so tenuous.
  22. Moreover, we do not know the precise circumstances of the grandmother’s household. The documents produced by the Department of Human Services and New South Wales Police do suggest a level of volatility as between the grandmother and mother that is plainly not acknowledged or communicated in the grandmother’s evidence before the Court. So how, in these circumstances, would that household cope with another young child who would be struggling with an enormous emotional adjustment.
  23. One gets the distinct feeling after having looked at the New South Wales Police and Department of Human Services files that the grandmother has minimised the potential issues that she has with her own daughter, and glossed over some of the challenges she faces if I were to make the orders that she asks me to make.
  24. The problems inherent in the grandmother’s proposal are further accentuated by the very unspecific proposal she makes for contact which recognises the very difficult dynamics that exist in this family. By contrast, the father’s contact proposal is at least an attempt to come to grips with the enormous logistical, let alone psychological, issues for the children that would be associated with having contact. It is the least of the worst alternatives. This is a case where there are no good options available at the moment.
  25. The role of the Independent Children’s Lawyer will be to try to increase the available options for the parents and the children, perhaps drawing on resources through the Department of Human Services and existing family resources in Sydney and elsewhere. I acknowledge the reality that the interim orders that I am about to make will need to be reviewed from time to time. I intend to allocate some hearing dates once I get an estimate from the lawyers about how much time I need to set aside.

I certify that the preceding twenty-five (25) paragraphs are a true copy of the reasons for judgment of Judge Altobelli

Date: 1 August 2013


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