WALKER & MYER

This matter came before the Family Court of Australia concerning parenting orders for two children, B and C. Ms Walker, the applicant mother, and Mr Myer, the respondent father, sought to discharge previous parenting orders and establish new arrangements. The Independent Children's Lawyer, Peter Lynch, was appointed to represent the children's interests.

The court was required to determine whether the proposed consent orders, which addressed issues of parental responsibility, living arrangements, and time spent between the children and their father, were in the best interests of the children. The court also needed to consider the father's apparent lack of direct consent to the specific terms of the orders, despite his counsel's advice regarding his general instructions on key issues.

Justice Macmillan, while noting the father had not had the opportunity to review the precise terms of the proposed orders, was satisfied that they were in the best interests of the children. This satisfaction was informed by the history of the matter, including a recent incident where the father attended a changeover under the influence of alcohol, and the advice received from the Department of Human Services indicating no intention to intervene. The court therefore made the orders as proposed by the Independent Children's Lawyer, deeming them to be in the children's best interests, even though they were not formally consented to in every detail by the father.