Lindsay and Lindsay (No 2)

In the Family Court of Australia, Tree J considered an application by the mother to vacate an order concerning her partner's drug and alcohol use and an undertaking given to the court. The mother also sought an order that she not leave the children in the sole care of her partner.

The court was required to determine whether there was a present real risk of serious neglect to the children due to the mother's partner's drug or alcohol use, and whether an existing undertaking by the partner should be discharged. Additionally, the court had to consider the presumption of equal shared parental responsibility and whether it was rebutted by evidence that it would not be in the children's best interests for the mother to have such responsibility.

Tree J found that the material before the court did not satisfy the requisite standard that there was a present real risk of serious neglect to the children arising from the partner's drug use. Consequently, the court was satisfied that in the absence of actual evidence of drug taking by the partner, the order concerning his drug and alcohol use should be discharged, although the partner's undertaking to the court remained in force. Regarding equal shared parental responsibility, the court was not satisfied to the requisite standard that it would not be in the children's best interests for the mother to have equal shared parental responsibility, and therefore the presumption was not rebutted.

By consent, the mother and father were ordered to take all necessary steps to enrol their child, C, born in 2001, at F School in Melbourne as a boarder from the 2015 school year. The father was to be responsible for the costs of the boarding school fees, with the mother to contribute as she could afford, and the issue of the cost of these fees was to be revisited by the parties at or prior to the final hearing.