KENNEDY & LEIGHTONS

In the matter of *Kennedy & Leightons*, Cleary J of the Family Court of Australia considered applications concerning the welfare of two children. The dispute arose in circumstances where the father had been convicted under the *Crimes Act 1900* (NSW) for offences relating to incitement to commit sexual offences and child abuse material, with the children being the subject of the disseminated material. The court was required to determine the living arrangements for the children, the allocation of parental responsibility, and whether the father should have any contact with them, as well as a separate application regarding a child's surname.

The primary legal issues before the court were whether the father posed a threat to the physical, emotional, and psychological wellbeing of the children, and consequently, what orders regarding time spent with the children and parental responsibility were appropriate. Additionally, the court considered whether the mother should be permitted to change one of the children's surnames, given the father's public identification as a paedophile and the potential adverse inferences for the children.

Cleary J concluded that the father was a threat to the children's wellbeing and ordered that the children live with the mother and that she have sole parental responsibility. The court further ordered that the father spend no time with the children and restrained him from making any form of contact with them, pursuant to s 68B(1) of the *Family Law Act 1975*. In relation to the surname application, the court ordered that the mother could change the child B's surname from KENNEDY-LEIGHTONS to KENNEDY without reference to the father, authorising her to take all necessary steps to amend the child's birth registration.