Cameroon and Darcy

[2009] FamCA 1331

FAMILY COURT OF AUSTRALIA

CAMEROON & DARCY [2009] FamCA 1331

FAMILY LAW – CHILDREN – Parties the subject of a State Police Domestic Violence Order – permission granted to attend a concert at the child’s school

Family Law Act 1975 (Cth)

APPLICANT: Mr Cameroon

RESPONDENT: Ms Darcy

INDEPENDENT CHILDREN’S LAWYER: J Richard Croft

FILE NUMBER: ADC 928 of 2007

DATE DELIVERED: 12 November 2009

PLACE DELIVERED: Adelaide

PLACE HEARD: Adelaide

JUDGMENT OF: Strickland J

HEARING DATE: 12 November 2009

REPRESENTATION

COUNSEL FOR THE APPLICANT: In person

SOLICITOR FOR THE APPLICANT: Ian Charman & Associates

SOLICITOR FOR THE RESPONDENT: In person

COUNSEL FOR THE INDEPENDENT CHILDREN’S LAWYER: Mr Boehm

SOLICITOR FOR THE INDEPENDENT CHILDREN’S LAWYER: J Richard Croft

Orders

1. That in the event that the arts night performance involving the child … born … July 1998 proceeds at her school on the evening of Friday 13 November 2009:

   a.   the mother is still to collect the said child in accordance with the current order at the conclusion of school on that day;

   b.   the mother is to deliver the said child to the school for the purpose of the said performance in lieu of delivering the said child to the Children’s Contact Service;

   c.   both the mother and the father be permitted to attend at the said school for the purpose of and for the duration of the said performance;

   d.   at the conclusion of the said performance the said child is to be returned to the father’s care in accordance with the current order which is then to continue.

2. That the Application in a Case filed by the mother on 3 November 2009 be dismissed and removed from the active pending cases list.

3. That pursuant to Section 62B and Section 65DA(2) of the Family Law Act 1975 the particulars of the obligations these orders create and the particulars of the consequences that may follow if a person contravenes these orders are set out in the attached Fact Sheet.

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

FAMILY COURT OF AUSTRALIA AT ADELAIDE

FILE NUMBER: ADC 928 of 2007

MR CAMEROON

Applicant

And

MS DARCY

Respondent

EX TEMPORE REASONS

1. I have before me an Application in a Case filed by the mother wherein she seeks orders including that she be allowed to attend the child’s arts night from 5:45pm until 8:00pm, and then she seeks an order that she be able to deliver the child back to the children’s contact service at 10:00am on the following Saturday. The application goes on and says “or alternately” but there is then nothing set out in the application. As best as I can understand the mother’s position though the alternate order she seeks is a return to the school on Monday morning. 

2. Now, the child at this stage is involved in an event at the school.  There is a difference between the parties as to whether it is to commence at 5:45pm or a bit later, and the confusion about that might be in terms of the child having to be there before the commencement, and gotten ready, but I am not fussed about that particular issue, it is not a matter that has any import. The particular difficulty is that under the current order the mother is due to collect the child from the school at the conclusion of school tomorrow, and then return the child to the father via the children’s contact centre at 6:30pm, and then the father has the child until the next Friday. 

3. The father has no difficulty with the mother attending at the child’s arts night. He also has no difficulty with the mother getting the child ready and delivering her at whatever time is appropriate, whether it is 5:45pm or later, for the purposes of the arts night, and he is quite happy for the mother to stay until the conclusion of the event, but he opposes any further alteration to the existing order, such that he would want to then, at the end of the arts night, take the child home with him, and have the care of the child in the usual way pursuant to the current order. 

4. The mother’s position is she wants to attend. The difficulty that she points out is that she has obtained a restraining order which restrains the father from – and I will not read all of it out, but – from being in the company of the mother. That is subject to any order or direction under the Family Law Act 1975. To put this in place then, what I would need to do is to make an order permitting the father to be in the company of the mother at the arts night.

5. That does not mean they have to sit next to each other, it does not mean that they have to stand next to each other, it simply means that the father is able to be at the same event as the mother is. Thus that is what is proposed, certainly by the father, and the mother would have to accept that that is a necessary order to permit both parties to attend this event. In any event I propose to put that in place – it has the support of the Independent Children’s Lawyer. As to what happens at the conclusion of the art event, there is no basis for altering the ongoing order, and the situation will be that the child returns home with the father after the event. 

6. Now what I also wanted to address while everyone was here is this. This matter is next on before me on the 17 November 2009, which is only next Tuesday, and I want to ascertain the progress of the matter in accordance with my orders of 9 September 2009, when the matter was last before me, because it seems to me that things have not been done that should have been done.  Now, I ordered that the mother obtain statements from a number of proposed witnesses and lodge copies of those statements with my associate, and provide copies to the other parties by 4:00pm on 6 November 2009, now that is – or was – last Friday. It has not happened.    

7. After discussing this with counsel we have now run out of time and thus I propose to readdress this issue on the next occasion.

I certify that the preceding 7 paragraphs are a true copy of the reasons for judgment of the Honourable Justice Strickland delivered on 12 November 2009.

Associate