Cody and Kilroy and Anor

In the District Court of New South Wales, His Honour Judge Faulks DCJ presided over proceedings involving the children E and C, their father, and their mother. The dispute concerned the primary care and responsibility for the children, with the mother seeking to present her circumstances regarding her departure from a previous location and her subsequent care of the children. The maternal grandmother had been granted leave to intervene in the proceedings.

The court was required to determine the living arrangements for the children, including who would have primary parental responsibility and the extent of time the children would spend with their mother and other relatives. Further issues included the preparation of a family report by a Family Consultant, the Independent Children's Lawyer's ability to issue subpoenas for specific information, and the mother's liberty to file an affidavit detailing her departure, absence, and care of the children. The court also needed to consider the progress of the Less Adversarial Trial process and the completion of questionnaires by the mother and the maternal grandmother.

His Honour ordered that the children would live with their father, who would have primary parental responsibility, to be exercised in consultation with the mother. The children were to spend time with their mother and other relatives as reasonably organised with Anglicare, potentially daily. The court directed the mother, father, children, and maternal grandmother to attend upon a Family Consultant for the preparation of a family report. The Independent Children's Lawyer was granted leave to issue subpoenas to the Queensland Department of Child Safety and the Queensland Police concerning incidents related to a recovery order and the criminal record of Mr V. The proceedings were adjourned, with liberty granted to the mother to file an affidavit detailing her departure, absence, and care of the children, and to propose final orders. The maternal grandmother was also directed to complete and file a questionnaire.