Director-General, Department of Family and Community Services and Sheward & Ors

The Director-General of the Department of Family and Community Services commenced proceedings concerning two young children, aged six and three years, seeking to vary existing consensual parenting orders. The dispute arose from the Director-General's contention that the expectations underpinning the prior orders had not been met. The eldest child had been in foster care since late 2011, and the youngest since early 2009, with neither child having a meaningful relationship with their parents or paternal grandmother. The court was presided over by Austin J.

The central legal issues before the court were whether the existing parenting orders should be discharged, and if so, what new orders were in the children's best interests regarding their living arrangements and time spent with their parents and paternal grandmother. Specifically, the court had to determine the extent of parental responsibility, the nature and frequency of contact with the mother, father, and paternal grandmother, and whether any conditions or restrictions were necessary to ensure the children's safety and well-being. The court also considered the children's relationships with each other and their capacity to communicate with their parents.

Austin J reasoned that the evidence demonstrated significant neglect of the children's emotional needs by both parents, who also possessed limited capacity or willingness to facilitate close and continuing relationships. The father's illicit drug use and the mother's history of relationships with violent partners, coupled with her tendency to prioritise her relationships with partners over time with her children, presented an unacceptably high risk of harm. The court found that neither parent could provide for the children's needs on a full-time basis, and that the children were well-settled with their foster carers. The court applied the paramount principle of the children's best interests, as enshrined in the *Family Law Act 1975*, to conclude that sole parental responsibility should be allocated to the Minister for Family and Community Services.

Consequently, the court ordered the discharge of all former parenting orders. The Minister for Family and Community Services was granted sole parental responsibility for the children. Orders were made for the children to spend limited time with the mother, father, and paternal grandmother, with the frequency, duration, venue, and supervision of these visits to be determined by the Minister. The Minister was empowered to suspend or terminate contact in specific circumstances, including failure to attend visits, intoxication, or conduct inconsistent with the children's best interests. The Minister was also directed to facilitate time between the siblings and communication between the children and their parents, and to take steps to ensure the children's safety by restraining the mother, father, and paternal grandmother from approaching the children's residences, schools, or extra-curricular activities.