Monahan & Fisk
[2022] FedCFamC1F 941
Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (DIVISION 1)
first instance
Monahan & Fisk [2022] FedCFamC1F 941
File number(s): BRC 14318 of 2019 Judgment of: CAREW J Date of judgment: 30 November 2022 Catchwords: FAMILY LAW - CHILDREN – Best interests Legislation: Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) Number of paragraphs: 8 Date of hearing: 30 November 2022 Place: Brisbane For the Applicant: Litigant in person For the Respondent: No appearance Solicitor for the Independent Children's Lawyer: Page Provan ORDER
BRC 14318 of 2019 FEDERAL CIRCUIT AND FAMILY COURT OF AUSTRALIA (DIVISION 1)
BETWEEN: MS MONAHAN
Applicant
AND: MR FISK
Respondent
INDEPENDENT CHILDREN'S LAWYER
order made by:
CAREW J
DATE OF ORDER:
30 NOVEMBER 2022
THE COURT ORDERS:
1.That the mother, Ms Monahan, have sole parental responsibility for the child, X born 2019.
2.That the child live with the mother.
3.That the father spend no time with the child.
4.That the mother be permitted to travel internationally with the child for the purposes of s 11(1)(b)(ii) of the Australian Passports Act 2005 (Cth).
5.That all outstanding applications be otherwise dismissed.
6.Pursuant to s 65DA(2) and s 62B of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth), the particulars of the obligations this Order create and the particulars of the consequences that may follow if a person contravenes this Order and details of who can assist parties adjust to and comply with an order are set out in the Fact Sheet attached hereto and these particulars are included in this Order.
NOTATION
A.The father sought to file a Notice of Discontinuance on 25 November 2022 and filed an affidavit of himself on 25 November 2022 seeking to discontinue the proceedings. Both documents were provided to the independent children’s lawyer and the mother by email.
B.The father was notified by email on 11 August 2022 of the date and time of the case management hearing and the email noted that if the father failed to appear, final orders may be made in his absence.
C.The respondent father will be provided with a transcript of the case management hearing on 30 November 2022, including the ex tempore reasons for judgment.
Note: The form of the order is subject to the entry in the Court’s records.
Note: This copy of the Court’s Reasons for judgment may be subject to review to remedy minor typographical or grammatical errors (r 10.14(b) Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Family Law) Rules 2021 (Cth)), or to record a variation to the order pursuant to r 10.13 Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Family Law) Rules 2021 (Cth).
Section 121 of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) makes it an offence, except in very limited circumstances, to publish proceedings that identify persons, associated persons, or witnesses involved in family law proceedings.
IT IS NOTED that publication of this judgment by this Court under the pseudonym Monahan & Fisk has been approved pursuant to s 121(9)(g) of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth).
EX-TEMPORE REASONS FOR JUDGMENT
Carew J:
This matter has a very troublesome history, to say the least. The proceedings concern a very young child, X, who is only three years of age. Her parents, Ms Monahan and Mr Fisk, are both young people. Ms Monahan is 31 and Mr Fisk is 34.
The parties were married for a short time in 2018 and separated a year later. They are divorced.
Mr Fisk did not appear today, but I have marked as exhibits, two documents which were sent to the independent children’s lawyer, which indicate the father no longer intends to seek any parenting orders. The documents are a Notice of Discontinuance and an affidavit by the father, and while the documents have a transaction number indicating they have been submitted to the Court, the documents have not yet reached the Court portal.
From the material before me, Mr Fisk pleaded guilty to a number of very serious charges involving violence against Ms Monahan.
There is a family report that was prepared in 2020, and I note that these proceedings were delayed because of the criminal proceedings, which are now completed. In the 2020 family report, a number of serious risks were identified, mainly relating to the father’s, at that time, alleged assaults and family violence perpetrated against the mother. But as already noted, he has pleaded guilty to a number of charges relating to those offences. The specific recommendations made by the family report at that time were that X live with her mother and spend no time with her father.
I am assisted also in this case by an independent children’s lawyer with considerable experience, who recommends that I make an order today to finalise the matter, that would see X continue to live with her mother and not spend time with her father. Indeed, X has not spent any time with her father since August 2019.
I am comfortably satisfied that it is in the best interests of X for these proceedings to be finalised and for an order to be made as proposed by the independent children’s lawyer.
The father will be provided with a copy of these ex-tempore reasons for judgment and a copy of the transcript of the case management hearing before me on 30 November 2022.
I certify that the preceding eight (8) numbered paragraphs are a true copy of the Ex-tempore Reasons for Judgment of the Honourable Justice Carew. Associate:
Dated: 30 November 2022
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