Sitch and Jacobs (No.3)

In Sitch and Jacobs (No.3), heard before Judge Antoni Lucev, the dispute concerned an application filed by the Respondent on 8 July 2014 alleging contravention. The application arose from an email sent by the Father's Current Partner to the Mother, which was also copied to the Judge's Associate and the Independent Children's Lawyer. This email contained contentious remarks regarding the Mother's mental health and the conduct of the Father.

The primary legal issue before the Court was whether the conduct of the Father, as evidenced by the email and other surrounding circumstances, constituted a contravention of court orders. Specifically, the Court was required to determine if the Father had improperly disclosed information about the Mother's mental health to the child and if his actions in relation to an ano-genital examination of the child were in contravention of court orders. The Court also considered the relevance and admissibility of evidence concerning the Mother's mental health history.

The Court reasoned that the email, while containing inflammatory language, did not establish a contravention of court orders. It noted that the Mother's mental health had been a subject of previous court consideration and that concerns had been raised by various agencies. However, the Court found that the Father's actions in disclosing excerpts from a Family Report to the child were indicative of his attempt to influence the child's position. Regarding the ano-genital examination, the Court clarified that its previous reference was to the normal results of the examination, not to the examination procedure itself. The Court also took judicial notice of the public knowledge surrounding the death of Chris Mainwaring, a former AFL footballer, to contextualise a remark made in the email.

The Court ordered that the Application – Contravention filed by the Respondent on 8 July 2014 be dismissed. There were no orders as to costs.