Eastley & Eastley

The appeal in Eastley & Eastley was brought by the father against the primary judge’s orders made under the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) that the children not spend any time with him and that he not contact them until they attained their majority. The children, born in 2017 and 2019, had been living with their mother since the parents’ separation in 2020, following the mother’s allegations of sexual abuse against the father. The primary judge found the father posed an unacceptable risk of harm to the children, and that the children would likely suffer emotional harm if they were to spend time with him. The primary judge concluded the children should live with their mother and not spend any time with their father.

The legal issues before the court were whether the father presented an unacceptable risk of harm to the children and, in any event, whether the elder child would be at risk of emotional harm if he were to spend any time with the father. The primary judge found the father’s potential deviant interest, poor judgment, and poor boundary setting, combined with the elder child’s potential trauma and adverse reaction, constituted an unacceptable risk of harm. The father appealed the primary judge’s findings and orders. The court considered the evidence and submissions from both parties, and the findings and conclusions of the primary judge.

The court found the primary judge’s reasoning and conclusions were well-founded and supported by the evidence. The court held the primary judge was correct to find the father posed an unacceptable risk of harm to the children and that the children would likely suffer emotional harm if they were to spend any time with him. The court found the primary judge’s orders were appropriate and in the best interests of the children. The court dismissed the father’s appeal with costs.

The final orders of the court were that the mother have sole parental responsibility for the children, that the children live with their mother, that the children not spend any time with or communicate with their father, and that the father be restrained from approaching or contacting the children until they attained their majority. The father’s appeal was dismissed with costs.