Grange and Grange

In the Family Court of Australia, Ms Grange (the applicant mother) sought the suspension of an order allowing her former husband, Mr Grange (the respondent father), unsupervised time with their three children. The application was heard ex tempore by Watts J in Cairns. The father did not attend the hearing, and attempts to contact him by the court and the mother's solicitor were unsuccessful.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether to suspend the existing order granting the father unsupervised time with the children, pending further determination. This arose from the mother's concerns regarding the father's behaviour and apparent intoxication on a previous occasion when collecting the children, as well as a letter from the father indicating he was vacating a property and leaving keys with the real estate agent.

Watts J reasoned that the mother's evidence, including her observations of the father's slurred speech, incoherent communication, and apparent drug influence, coupled with his erratic behaviour and potential breach of an apprehended violence order, warranted the suspension of the unsupervised contact order. The court noted the father's absence from the hearing and the mother's inability to locate him, further supporting the decision to suspend the order for the children's immediate safety. The court declined to make an order for supervised contact at that time, given the existence of a warrant for the father's arrest and his unknown whereabouts. The existing listing for February 2012 before Justice Benjamin was retained, at the Independent Children's Lawyer's request, to ascertain if the father had returned to Cairns.