Langley & Tarelli (No. 4)

In the appeal, Mr Tarelli, the father, challenged the final parenting orders made by the Family Court, which provided for the mother, Ms Langley, to have sole parental responsibility for the child and for the father to spend limited supervised time with the child. The court was required to decide whether the primary judge erred in failing to consider the effect on the child of a move from the father's care to that of the mother, and whether there was an error in the property settlement orders. The court also needed to determine whether the appeal against the final parenting orders should be allowed and if the property settlement orders should be re-determined.

The court found that the primary judge did not adequately consider the effect on the child of the move from the father's care to that of the mother. The court held that the primary judge should have considered the expert evidence which demonstrated the adverse effect on the child of the father's conduct towards the mother. The court found that the primary judge did not adequately consider the evidence of Professor TT, a consultant psychiatrist, who observed the child with the father, his new partner and the child’s half-sister, and the child in the company of the mother and maternal grandmother. The court found that the primary judge erred in not adequately considering the expert evidence, which demonstrated the adverse effect on the child of the father's conduct towards the mother.

The court found that the primary judge did not err in the property settlement orders, but it was unjust for those orders to stand given the re-determination of the parenting proceedings. The court held that the property settlement orders should be re-determined in light of the re-determination of the parenting proceedings.

The court allowed the appeal against the final parenting orders and stayed those orders pending further order of the Full Court. The court dismissed the appeals against the property settlement orders and ordered that the Independent Children’s Lawyer file and serve any written submissions addressing the interim parenting orders to be made in light of the court's decision. The court made no order as to costs.