Redmond and Redmond

This case involved Mr. Redmond (the applicant father) and Ms. Redmond (the respondent mother) concerning parenting orders for their child, E. The dispute also encompassed the father's publication of material online concerning the child, the parenting proceedings, and the child's school, X School. The matter was heard in the Family Court of Australia by Forrest J.

The court was required to determine several legal issues, including the appropriate interim parenting arrangements for the child, E, given concerns about the father's conduct and mental state. Specifically, the court had to assess whether the child was at an unacceptable risk of physical or psychological harm in the father's unsupervised care. Additionally, the court needed to address the father's breaches of a deed of settlement concerning his online publications about the school and the parenting dispute, and whether injunctive relief was necessary to restrain further publication. The court also considered the father's parental responsibility in relation to the child's education and the provision of school-related information.

Forrest J reasoned that the father's conduct, including his persistent online publications in breach of a deed of settlement and court orders, demonstrated a significant disregard for the court's authority and the welfare of the child. The court found that the father posed an unacceptable risk of harm to the child in unsupervised care, citing evidence from the Independent Children's Lawyer's affidavit, which detailed concerning behaviour by the father towards his former partner and the child. Consequently, the court discharged all previous orders for the child to spend time with the father and ordered that any future time be supervised for up to two hours each weekend at a designated contact centre. The court also restrained the father from publishing any further material online about the mother, the child, or the school, and ordered him to remove all existing offending content.

The court made several orders by consent, including that the mother continue to provide the father with copies of the child's school reports, photographs, certificates, and awards. The court also ordered that the Independent Children's Lawyer inform X School in writing of specific aspects of the judgment. All other interim applications for parenting orders were dismissed. The court noted that the publication of the judgment under the pseudonym Redmond & Redmond was approved by the Chief Justice pursuant to s 121(9)(g) of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth).