Fenwick and Fenwick

The Full Court of the Family Court of Australia considered an appeal by the mother against orders made by a Family Court judge concerning the parties' children, A and N. The dispute centred on arrangements for the father's time with the children and the financial contributions to be made by the mother in relation to this time.

The primary legal issues before the Full Court were whether the judge erred in ordering the mother to pay the father $25 on each occasion he spent time with the children, and whether the judge erred in granting the father liberty to arrange bus transportation for the children, with a condition that the mother's payment would be waived if such travel was arranged.

The Full Court found that the judge had made an error in ordering the mother to pay the father $25 per contact. The Court reasoned that such an order was not within the scope of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) and was an inappropriate exercise of the court's power. The Court noted that while parties can agree to such arrangements, a court cannot impose them as a matter of course. The judge's intention in relation to the bus travel was to provide a mechanism for the father to incur costs for travel, which would then be offset by the mother's payment. However, the Court found the order as drafted was flawed.

The Full Court ordered that the original orders be set aside and remitted the matter back to the Family Court for re-hearing.