GKD v Director of Department of Family & Community Service

The appeal concerned an adoption order made by the primary judge in favour of a foster family, adopting the teenage daughter of the natural father, GKD. GKD sought to appeal this adoption order. The matter came before the Court of Appeal of New South Wales, constituted by Campbell and Meagher JJA.

The central legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether GKD had a right to appeal the adoption order, or if leave to appeal was required. Further, if leave was required, the Court had to determine whether to grant such leave.

The Court of Appeal reasoned that, in accordance with the relevant legislation governing adoption, there is no automatic right of appeal against an adoption order. Instead, an appellant must first obtain leave to appeal. In this instance, GKD had not identified any error on the part of the primary judge in the documents or submissions presented to the Court of Appeal. Consequently, the Court found no basis upon which to grant leave to appeal.

Accordingly, the Court of Appeal ordered that the notice of appeal filed on 14 February 2012 be struck out as incompetent, and the application for leave to appeal filed on 24 April 2012 be dismissed.