Adoption of Alice - [2018] NSWSC 1483

Supreme Court

New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Adoption of Alice [2018] NSWSC 1483
Hearing dates: 2 October 2018
Date of orders: 02 October 2018
Decision date: 10 October 2018
Jurisdiction: Equity - Adoptions List
Before: Slattery J
Decision:
1. Consent dispense orders made under Adoption Act 2000, s 67(1)(d).
2. Order the Adoption Plan of 11 September 2018 be registered under Adoption Act 2000, s 50(3).
3. Order made for the adoption of the child in favour of the adopting parents. The Court approves the names proposed as the surname and given names of the child.

Catchwords: ADOPTIONS – Adoption Act 2000, s 67(1)(a) – application to dispense with the consent of the birth father of the child proposed for adoption – whether such an order should be made in the circumstances – whether an order for adoption is the clearly preferable course in the best interests of the child – whether the proposed name change is in the best interests of the child – whether the Adoption Plan is in the best interests of the child
Legislation Cited: Adoption Act 2000, ss 50(3), 67(1)(d) and 101
Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998
Cases Cited: Director General Department of Family and Community Services; Re Stephen [2011] NSWSC 1521
Re Adoption of RCC [2015] NSWSC 813
Re Sarah [2013] NSWCA 379
Category: Principal judgment
Parties: Plaintiff: Secretary, New South Wales Department of Family and Community Services
Defendant: Not published
Representation:
Counsel:
M Anderson (plaintiff)
No appearance (defendant)
Solicitors:
Lea Armstrong, Crown Solicitor’s Office (plaintiff)
No appearance (defendant)

File Number(s): A169/2017
Publication restriction: No

Judgment

Alice (not her real name), who is now seven years of age, has been in the continuous care of her proposed adoptive parents since she was 10 months old. These proceedings concern an application brought by the Secretary of the NSW Department of Family and Community Services in relation to the adoption of Alice by her proposed adoptive parents.
Alice was born in Sydney in early 2011. Later in 2011, by order of the Children’s Court, Alice was placed under the parental responsibility of the Minister for Family and Community under the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998. Before the end of the same year, Alice was placed in the proposed adoptive parents’ care as a child under the parental responsibility of the Minister for Family and Community Services until the age of 18.
Alice’s birth mother passed away in 2017 and her death certificate was in evidence in the proceedings. Alice’s birth father is the defendant in these proceedings. He does not consent to the proposed adoption, but does not actively oppose the orders sought to be made.
In these proceedings, the Court must decide: (1) whether an adoption order is the clearly preferable order in Alice’s best interests; (2) whether to make orders dispensing with the birth father’s consent; (3) whether the Adoption Plan takes into account Alice’s culture, language, religion, given names, identity and whether the Adoption…

Grounds of appeal

[14] The appellant contends that the primary judge erred in finding that the respondent had discharged the onus of establishing the matters required under the relevant provision.

[15] It was submitted that his Honour failed to give adequate weight to the evidence of the second witness, and that the findings of fact were not reasonably open on the material before the Court.

[16] The respondent, for its part, submits that no error is disclosed, and that the conclusions reached were well within the range of outcomes available to the primary judge.

Consideration

[17] It is convenient to deal first with the question of construction, as the resolution of that issue informs the remaining grounds advanced by the appellant.

[18] For the reasons that follow, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed in part and the matter remitted for further determination.

Keep reading for free

Create a free CaseChat account to read Adoption of Alice and more:

Read every judgment in full
Ask AI and get answers linked to paragraphs
See how each paragraph was cited in later cases
Download judgments as PDF or Word

Continue with Google

One click creates your free account or signs you in.

By continuing you agree to the Terms and Privacy Policy.

Details

Case: [2018] NSWSC 1483
Decision Date: 10 October 2018

CaseChat Overview and Summary

In the Family Court, the applicants sought an order under section 67(1)(a) of the Adoption Act 2000 to dispense with the consent of the child's birth father in an adoption application. They also sought a change of name for the child and approval of an Adoption Plan. The dispute centred on whether the court should dispense with the father's consent, whether adoption was the best interest of the child, whether the proposed name change was in the child's best interests, and whether the Adoption Plan was in the child's best interests.

The court was required to determine whether the statutory criteria for dispensing with the father's consent were met, whether the adoption was in the child's best interests, whether the proposed name change was in the child's best interests, and whether the Adoption Plan was in the child's best interests. The court had to consider the welfare and best interests of the child as the paramount consideration under section 65(2) of the Adoption Act 2000.

The court found that the statutory criteria for dispensing with the father's consent were met, and that adoption was in the child's best interests. The court also found that the proposed name change was in the child's best interests, as it would provide the child with a new identity that reflected their new family and would facilitate their integration into their adoptive family. The court approved the Adoption Plan, which provided for the child's ongoing care and support, including regular contact with their adoptive parents and access to their medical and educational records. The court made the orders sought by the applicants, including an order dispensing with the father's consent, approving the name change, and approving the Adoption Plan.

Orders