Anson & Lace

This matter concerned parenting orders in the Family Court of Australia, before Baumann J. The dispute involved allegations of family violence, drug use, and sexual abuse, with the mother seeking supervised time between the child and the father. The Independent Children’s Lawyer also contended for interim orders to be made following findings as to risk.

The court was required to determine whether the child was at an unacceptable risk of sexual abuse in the father's care, and if so, what interim orders were appropriate to facilitate a safe re-engagement between the child and the father, given the child had not spent time with him for over two years. The court also considered the impact of the father's drug use and the need for current evidence regarding his rehabilitation.

Baumann J found that the child was not at an unacceptable risk of sexual abuse in the father's care. However, due to a lack of current evidence regarding the father's drug use and rehabilitation, the court was not prepared to order unsupervised time. The court applied the principle that interim orders should be made to provide an opportunity for the child to safely engage with the father, while acknowledging the historical reluctance to make long-term supervised time orders. The court considered the mother's proposed conditions for supervised visits, including drug testing and counselling for the father, and noted the potential need for counselling for both parents and the child to facilitate the re-introduction.

The court proposed to make interim orders for the child to live with the mother and spend supervised time with the father, with the father potentially bearing the cost of these visits and the paternal grandmother being present. The court indicated that further submissions would be heard regarding whether these supervised visits should commence before or after certain conditions were met, including counselling for the child and father, a drug use counselling program for the father, and hair follicle testing for both parents. The proceedings were adjourned for further submissions on the form of the orders.