Millson & Halbert

The proceedings in the Family Court of Australia, Millson & Halbert, involved a contravention application filed by the mother against the father concerning the final orders made on 27 November 2019. The dispute centred on the father's failure to complete necessary documentation to facilitate supervised time between the children and the mother. The father argued that his obligation was not triggered due to the mother's failure to attend upon a specified treating psychiatrist. This case follows a previous judgment on 1 June 2021, where the court found that the father had a case to answer in respect of Order 15(c) of the Final Orders, which mandated the parents to complete all necessary documentation and attend appointments to facilitate time with the children.

The primary legal issues the court was required to decide were whether the father had a reasonable excuse for his non-compliance with the Final Orders and whether there were grounds to vary the Final Orders. The father argued that his obligation under the orders was contingent upon the mother attending upon a treating psychiatrist as per his instructions, not the psychiatrist she had been seeing for some time. Additionally, the father filed an application seeking a variation of the Final Orders, proposing a new regime for supervised time that included regular drug testing for the mother.

In its reasoning, the court considered the father's arguments for a reasonable excuse and the application for variation of the Final Orders. The court found that the father did not have a reasonable excuse for his non-compliance, as the orders did not specify that the mother had to attend upon a particular psychiatrist. Furthermore, the court noted that the mother had been seeing a psychiatrist for some time, and this should have been sufficient to trigger the father's obligations. Regarding the variation application, the court acknowledged the father's concerns but found that the proposed changes were not necessary at this stage. The court made orders inviting the parties to consider an application to vary the Final Orders, ensuring a fresh regime could be considered to facilitate the children's time with their mother.