HILTON & SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF FAMILY AND COMMUNITY SERVICES

This matter came before the court concerning an appeal filed by Ms Hilton against orders made by McClelland J on 9 October 2015. The appeal was filed on 28 October 2015. The court was required to determine whether to stay the earlier orders pending the finalisation of the appeal, and to address the publication of information relating to family law proceedings.

The court was asked to consider the legal issues surrounding the dissemination of information about family law proceedings, specifically concerning the identification of parties and children involved. The court also had to determine the appropriate orders to be made in light of publications that had already occurred and to prevent future publications.

The court reasoned that the mother, Ms Hilton, and associated persons had published an account of the family law proceedings, identifying her and the child, L, by electronic means, including accompanying the publication with a picture. Consequently, the court ordered that the previous orders be stayed pending the appeal, subject to conditions requiring the applicant to prosecute the appeal expeditiously and comply with directions. Furthermore, the mother and associated persons were ordered to remove the existing publications forthwith and were prohibited from any future publication of the proceedings by any means. The legal practitioner for the mother undertook to communicate these orders to her and those associated with her who had posted notices to Facebook.