Sheffield and Oaks

In the Family Court of Australia at Hobart, Justice Bennett heard contravention proceedings brought by the father against the mother concerning alleged breaches of parenting orders made on 27 September 2006. The dispute centred on the mother's failure to provide the parties' two sons, born in 1995 and 1997, to the father for scheduled periods of time during the 2006/2007 Christmas school holidays. The father also sought compensatory time with the children.

The court was required to determine whether the mother had contravened the parenting orders by failing to make the children available to the father on three separate occasions during the holiday period. A key issue was whether a pre-condition stipulated in paragraph 10 of the orders, requiring the father to demonstrate a good understanding of high-functioning autism and to comply with recommendations regarding the younger son, had been met. The court also considered the father's application for compensatory time and the mother's defence of reasonable excuse for the alleged contraventions.

Justice Bennett found that the father had not satisfied the pre-condition under paragraph 10 for the first alleged contravention, relating to the period commencing 30 December 2006, and therefore dismissed that count. However, the court determined that a subsequent letter from Dr S on 12 January 2007 satisfied the requirements of paragraph 10 for the periods commencing 13 January 2007 and 27 January 2007. Consequently, the mother's contravention of the orders on these two occasions was found proved, and she failed to establish a reasonable excuse. The court ordered both parents to attend a post-separation parenting program and imposed a bond on the mother for future compliance with parenting orders, with compensatory time awarded to the father to make up for the missed periods. Paragraph 10 of the original orders was discharged for clarity.