KT v KJ & TH

This matter concerned an appeal to the Full Court of the Family Court of Australia, with the parties identified as KT (the applicant father) and KJ & TH (the respondents, mother and child). The dispute arose from parenting orders made by a Registrar in the Federal Circuit Court, which the father sought to set aside. The father's primary contention was that the Registrar erred in law by failing to consider the child's best interests as paramount, as required by section 61DA of the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth), and by failing to give adequate weight to the father's evidence regarding the child's expressed wishes.

The Full Court was required to determine whether the Registrar had properly applied the paramountcy principle in assessing the child's best interests and whether the weight given to the child's expressed wishes was sufficient. Specifically, the court considered whether the Registrar's decision was vitiated by a failure to adequately consider the father's evidence concerning the child's stated preference for spending time with him, and whether this constituted an error of law.

The Full Court found that the Registrar had indeed failed to give adequate weight to the child's expressed wishes, which were relevant to the determination of the child's best interests. The court reasoned that while the paramountcy principle requires consideration of all relevant factors, including the child's expressed wishes, the Registrar's reasons did not demonstrate a proper consideration of this specific factor. The court emphasised that the weight to be given to a child's expressed wishes is a matter for the judicial officer, but that weight must be demonstrably considered.

Consequently, the Full Court upheld the father's appeal, set aside the parenting orders made by the Registrar, and remitted the matter back to the Federal Circuit Court for redetermination by a judicial officer other than the Registrar who made the original orders.