Upton & Everett

In the matter of PAC 2364 of 2011, Ms Upton, the applicant mother, sought to discharge existing court orders that provided for contact between the respondent father and their two children, E and F. The matter proceeded undefended by the father.

The central legal issue before Rees J was whether the existing contact orders should be discharged, given that the children had not spent time with their father for over six years. The court was required to consider the best interests of the children in making this determination.

Rees J gave considerable weight to the views of the children, a factor of significant importance under the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth). In light of the prolonged absence of contact and the children's expressed wishes, the court determined that discharging the orders was in the children's best interests.

Consequently, the court ordered the discharge of orders 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 made on 26 August 2015, which had previously provided for contact between the father and the children. The mother was granted liberty to provide a copy of these orders to F's school, and copies of the reasons for judgment were to be provided to the father and paternal grandparents.