Holmen and Farley

In the Family Court of Australia, Melbourne, Justice Brown presided over proceedings involving Mr Holmen (the father) and Ms Farley (the mother), concerning competing parenting applications. The father had recently been released on bail pending resentencing in the Magistrates' Court of Victoria, following the cancellation of an intensive corrections order.

The court was required to determine whether to adjourn the trial of the parenting applications, which was scheduled to commence imminently, given the father's impending appearance in the Magistrates' Court and the uncertainty surrounding his potential custodial sentence. The independent children's lawyer had submitted that an adjournment was necessary to consider the impact of any custodial sentence on the father's ability to spend time with his child and to ensure his continued engagement with therapeutic interventions.

Initially, the father opposed an adjournment, expressing a desire for the trial to proceed. However, after further consideration, he supported an adjournment. Justice Brown noted that while the application for adjournment was made for the father's benefit, the court would proceed with the evidence before it, including assessing future probabilities if necessary. The court ultimately decided to adjourn the trial, listing the matter for mention on 9 August 2007, by which time the outcome of the father's resentencing would be known. The father was to ensure the court was advised if he was sentenced to immediate imprisonment and was granted leave to appear by telephone on the adjourned date, whether in custody or not. The court also noted its intention to relist the trial for 8 October 2007, subject to the father not being in custody and no contrary orders being made.