SKJ v Hr

[2023] QChC 17

DISTRICT COURT OF QUEENSLAND

CITATION:

SKJ v HR & Another [2023] QChC 17

PARTIES:

SKJ

(appellant) v

HR

(first respondent) &

DIRECTOR OF CHILD PROTECTION LITIGATION
(second respondent)

FILENO:

992/23

DIVISION:

Appellate

PROCEEDING:

Appeal under the Child Protection Act 1999

ORIGINATING COURT:

Childrens Court at Brisbane

DELIVEREDON:

6 September 2023

DELIVEREDAT:

Brisbane

HEARINGDATE:

25 August 2023

JUDGE:

Loury KC DCJ

ORDER:

1.    I extend the time within which to file the notice of appeal to 17 April 2023;

2.    The appeal is allowed;

3.    The decision of the learned Magistrate granting a long- term guardianship order to the chief executive is set aside;

4.    The matter is remitted to the Childrens Court to proceed according to law.

CATCHWORDS:

APPEAL – APPLICATION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME –

where the appellant seeks an extension of time to appeal a child protection order – where the appellant was not aware the order had been made

APPEAL – CHILD PROTECTION ORDER – where a long-

term guardianship order was made – where the appellant mother was not personally served with the application – where notice was sent to the appellant via email to an email address no longer in use - whether proceedings represented a denial of natural justice

LEGISLATION:

Childrens Court Rules 2016

Child Protection Act 1999 ss 54, 56, 64(f)(iii)

CASES:

Foxe v Brown (1984) 58 ALR 542

F v Sturrock [2004] QChC 4

COUNSEL:

P Wilson for the appellant

C Juratowitch for the respondent
G Murray for the second respondent

SOLICITORS:

Michael Dwyer Solicitor for the appellant Hub Legal for the respondent

Director of Child Protection Litigation for the second respondent

Introduction

1. The applicant is the mother of a child, X. She wishes to appeal against the decision of a Childrens Court Magistrate made on 26 April 2022 to make a Child Protection Order granting long-term guardianship of X to the chief executive.

1. The applicant filed a Notice of Appeal on 17 April 2023. She requires an extension of time within which to appeal as the Child Protection Act 1999 provides that an appeal must be filed within 28 days after the decision is made.

1. By way of explanation for the delay, the appellant has filed an affidavit, affirmed 10 May 2023, in which she states that she did not know the long-term guardianship order had been made as she had changed email addresses and she did not receive the relevant documents, including the application for the long-term guardianship order. She further states that she became aware in late May 2022 that a long-term guardianship order had been made. She spoke to various parties, including politicians and helplines, but it was not until she approached her current solicitor, Mr Michael Dwyer, that she knew to file a Notice of Appeal. The applicant does not indicate when she first retained a solicitor, however the material before me suggests that she had done so by 15 February 2023. There is no explanation for the two-month delay from February 2023 through until April 2023…