Gannon and Hurley

In the matter of *Gannon and Hurley*, heard before Judge Terry, the dispute concerned the surname of a child, [X] Gannon, born in 2015. The parents sought to change the child's surname to Hurley-Gannon.

The central legal issue before the court was whether it had the power to order the change of the child's surname to a hyphenated form, and to direct the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages to register this change, even if one of the parents did not consent. The court was required to consider the relevant provisions of the *Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1995* (NSW) and the court's inherent jurisdiction concerning children.

Judge Terry reasoned that the court possessed the inherent jurisdiction to make orders for the welfare of a child, which extended to determining the child's surname. The court found that the proposed change to Hurley-Gannon was in the child's best interests. Crucially, the court interpreted Section 28 of the *Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1995* (NSW) as permitting the Registrar to register a name change pursuant to a court order, even in the absence of the consent of both parents, where the court has made such an order in the exercise of its jurisdiction.

The court ordered that for all purposes the child shall henceforth be known as [X] Hurley-Gannon. The mother and/or father were authorised to apply to the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages for New South Wales to change the child's name accordingly. The Registrar was directed to register the change of name pursuant to Section 28 of the Act, notwithstanding that the consent of both the mother and father had not been obtained.