Tasman & Tisdall

In the Family Court of Australia, Dawe J considered an application by a father alleging that the mother had contravened, without reasonable excuse, orders for the father to spend time with their two children. The core of the dispute revolved around whether the mother had intentionally failed to comply with the existing parenting orders or had made no reasonable attempt to do so.

The legal issues before the court were whether the mother had contravened the parenting orders and, if so, whether she had a reasonable excuse for such contravention. Specifically, the court had to determine if the mother's actions constituted an intentional failure to comply or a lack of reasonable attempt to comply, and whether the terms of the order itself provided a basis for a reasonable excuse.

Dawe J found that the parenting order was ambiguous as it did not specify the commencement or conclusion times for the father's weekend time with the children. This ambiguity meant the court was not satisfied that the mother had intentionally failed to comply or made no reasonable attempt to comply. Furthermore, the court determined that the mother had a reasonable excuse for any contravention under sections 70NAE(2) and 70NAE(5) of the relevant legislation. Consequently, the father's contravention application was dismissed. The father was also ordered to pay the mother's costs of and incidental to the contravention application.