Director-General, Department of Community Services v The Adoptive Parents

The Director-General of the Department of Community Services appealed to the Court of Appeal of New South Wales against a decision of the Supreme Court of New South Wales concerning the adoption of a child. The dispute centred on whether the adoptive parents were permitted to change the given name of the child, who had been placed with them shortly after birth.

The primary legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether the addition of a new given name to the child's existing name constituted a "change" in the given name or names for the purposes of the relevant adoption legislation. This required the Court to consider what constitutes a "given name" and at what point in time its identity is to be determined. A further issue was whether there were special reasons, related to the interests of the child, to permit such a change, and what weight should be given to the fact that the child had been known and called by the new name in the period prior to the adoption application.

The Court of Appeal held that the addition of a name to an existing given name was not a "change" of a given name, but rather an addition. It reasoned that the original given name remained, and the new name was simply appended. The Court further found that the interests of the child were paramount and that the period during which the child had been known by the new name was a significant factor in determining those interests. The Court concluded that there were special reasons to permit the addition of the name, as it was in the child's best interests to be known by the name the adoptive parents intended to use.

Leave to appeal was granted, but the appeal was ultimately dismissed with costs.