Redmond and Redmond (Stay)

The Family Court of Australia heard an application by Mr Redmond (the father) for a stay of interim parenting orders made on 15 May 2014, pending the determination of his appeal against those orders. Ms Redmond (the mother) and the Independent Children’s Lawyer opposed the application.

The primary legal issue before the Court was whether to grant a stay of the interim parenting orders. This required the Court to consider the principles governing applications for a stay pending appeal, including the onus on the applicant to establish a proper basis for the stay, the risk of the appeal being rendered nugatory if a stay was not granted, and the merits of the grounds of appeal.

Justice Forrest dismissed the father's application for a stay. His Honour found that the father had failed to establish a proper basis for the stay, conceding that the appeal would not be rendered nugatory if a stay was refused. Furthermore, the Court considered that several of the father's grounds of appeal appeared doomed to fail, lacking particularity or arguable merit. The Court also noted concerns regarding the father's bona fides in pursuing the appeal and the need for finality in the proceedings for the child's best interests.

The Court ordered that the father's application for a stay be dismissed. By consent, paragraph (5) of the 15 May 2014 order was varied to specify the "[P] Contact Centre" for supervised child contact. The competing applications for final parenting orders were listed for trial in October 2014.