Independent Children’s Lawyer and Rowe and Anor

This matter concerned an application by the Independent Children’s Lawyer (ICL) in proceedings involving the father and mother of two children, X and Y. The ICL sought urgent orders regarding the children's living arrangements and contact with their parents.

The court was required to determine whether to grant the ICL leave to file an application ex parte, dispense with strict compliance with certain rules, and make interim orders concerning the children's parental responsibility, living arrangements, and communication with their mother. The court also had to consider the implications of a single expert's report recommending that the mother might require a case guardian.

Cleary J dispensed with the requirement for strict compliance with certain rules and granted the ICL leave to file an application ex parte. The court made significant interim orders, suspending all prior parenting orders and granting the father sole parental responsibility. The children were to live with the father, with a period of no contact with the mother, followed by limited telephone contact and supervised contact in a contact centre. The mother was restrained from removing the children, attending at the father's residence or the school, and from communicating with the children except as permitted by the orders. The mother was also ordered to use her best endeavours to ensure that the maternal grandparents and Ms M did not attend at the father's residence or the school, or communicate with the children.