Tanner & Anor and Tanner & Anor

The applicants, the maternal grandparents, sought orders concerning their grandchild, G. The respondents, the child's mother and father, had not filed any material in response to the application. The matter proceeded as an undefended hearing before Stevenson J.

The court was required to determine the best interests of the child, G, in circumstances where there was a final Apprehended Violence Order in place protecting the maternal grandparents and the child, and where sexual abuse allegations had been made against an associate of the mother. A key issue was whether the mother and father were willing or capable of fulfilling their parental responsibilities at that time.

Stevenson J reasoned that, given the existing Apprehended Violence Order and the serious allegations, neither parent appeared capable of fulfilling their parental role. Consequently, the court found it to be in the child's best interests to live with the maternal grandparents and for them to have sole parental responsibility. The court also made provision for the grandparents to facilitate future contact with the parents if they deemed it beneficial for the child.

The final orders provided that the applicant maternal grandparents were to have sole parental responsibility for the child and that the child was to live with them. The court also directed that a Fact Sheet detailing obligations, consequences of contravention, and assistance to comply with the orders be attached, and dismissed all outstanding applications.