assessor

The mother of children aged 10 and 7 years was in her third long term relationship.  The first relationship commenced when she was aged 18 years and produced 3 children.  The second relationship commenced when the mother was...

One party wanted to submit statements from witnesses whose evidence was not an affidavit and was not in the form of a statement.  The judge considered that a statement by one doctor was intended to contract evidence from...

A judge found that the father’s text messages to the mother were derogatory, intimidating and threatening and constituted family violence against her and that the father must desist from this behaviour (emotional abuse).  The judge found that granting...

An assessment by a family consultant raised serious questions about the parenting capacity of both parents of children aged 6 and 7 years.  The consultant recommended that the child protection department be invited to intervene if concerns were...

A child was aged 3 years.  The father was diagnosed with bipolar affective disorder and an expert opined that the father remained at risk of relapse.  The father had been charged with fighting.  The father reported...

Children aged 9 and 7 years who were of Aboriginal and South Sea Islander heritage lived with their mother.  Both the paternal grandmother and her late husband had extensive involvement in the Indigenous and South Sea...

For three years after separation, children aged 15, 12 and 10 years had at the mother’s insistence spent time with the father only at the mother’s house.  The mother then severed all of the children’s interaction with...

The mother was estimated to have a mild-moderate intellectual disability, and received a disability pension.  The judge found that the mother did not have the parenting capacity to care for the child without assistance that was provided by...

The father acknowledged that he had behaved towards the mother in a manner that was mean spirited and verbally abusive towards the mother at times, and that some of this behaviour had occurred in front of the children.  The father at...

Both parties wanted to restrict the child’s relationship with the other to occasional supervised visits, either temporarily or permanently.  It was common ground that the mother had refused to allow the child to spend any time with...

A child aged 11 years was emotionally distressed and the parents disputed the reasons for this distress.  The mother reported that the child suffered violent and unpredictable mood changes when he would attack the mother verbally and would become abusive...

Evidence was given that a mother experienced post-traumatic stress disorder which she attributed entirely to the actions of the father as he had been emotionally controlling and abusive towards her.  The father denied that events described by the mother took place. ...

A mother held a genuine strong belief that the father had sexually abused his stepdaughter (the mother’s daughter) when aged 13 years, but the father had been found not guilty in criminal proceedings.   The father had two children aged 7 and...

The mother of a 7 year old child sought to reduce the time the child spent with the father pending an updated Family Report.  The mother also sought to disqualify the family consultant on the grounds of apprehension of...

Paternal grandparents applied for orders to spend time with the parties’ younger children who were twin boys aged 8 years.  Six months after the paternal grandparents had commenced spending regular time with the children, the father applied also to spend time...

Dispute involved three children aged 17, 16 and 13 years.  Two older girls lived with the mother and the younger child had lived with the father for about a year.  The judge found that the father was...

The case involved two children, one aged 4 years who lived with the father, and the second aged 18 months who lived with the mother and maternal grandmother.  The judge found that the mother’s environment posed a...

The mother of a child aged 4 years at the time of the hearing had been subjected to intense and long term verbal abuse.  The mother applied to relocate to be with her extended family and to provide some relief...

  There were two children of a relationship aged 14 and 11 years.  The mother requested that the younger child primarily live with her and that she have sole parental responsibility for him, but the father sought...

A family consultant recommended that an infant’s time with his father should follow a graduated approach, starting at two occasions with the father during the week. It should then be moved to one overnight stay and then into two...

The case involved children who were at different developmental stages, being aged nearly 4 years and 9 years.  Little difference was found in the parenting capacity of each of the parents. The family consultant opined that the fact that one...

  A child aged 2 years had lived primarily with the father since separation, and the mother applied for the child to live with her for equal time.  When the relationship ended the father withheld the child and the...

Orders were made for a child aged 4 years to live with the father and spend time with the mother.  Two years later the mother applied to reverse the orders so that she became the primary...

A mother alleged that the father had sexually abused an older daughter of the mother from another relationship when that child was aged 8 years. The mother also alleged that the father was unable to control his anger without...

An assessor described a 13 year old child as having developed an atypical form of anxious-avoidant attachment style, meaning that the child had responded to the lack of adult responsiveness to his needs by becoming self-reliant. ...

Three children were involved born of two fathers.  The oldest child lived with its father and the two younger children had been removed from the mother at birth.  An issue was whether the maternal grandparents were...

Four children were involved, born of two fathers.  The applicant was father of the youngest child aged 10 years, and he had acted as a father-figure for all four children for 7 years when the couple...

The case involved a child aged 5 years.  The judge found that while it is standard practice for a family consultant to observe interactions between a child and parent following interviews, the consultant has discretion about...

The case involved a girl aged 12 years whose parents had been in ongoing conflict since they separated when she was aged 5 years (intractable conflict).  The child was described as mature. The judge noted there...

Four children had lived with their mother since separation and had recently recommenced spending time with their father.  The mother alleged significant and sustained physical and sexual abuse against both herself and the children but the father denied...

An expert who provided reportable therapy had provided a treatment report to Court although the report had not been requested by court.  The mother asked that a family consultant also be appointed as the treatment report did not address...

A mother stated that her continuing ability to parent a 5 year old child would be affected if the father spent unsupervised time with the child.  The mother alleged both physical and sexual abuse by the...

The father of children aged 15 and 13 years alleged that his ex-partner’s new husband posed an unacceptable risk of sexual abuse as the new husband was on the sexual offenders register following an incident 7 years...

The case involved children aged 12 and 8 years who had lived with the mother.  The older child expressed a desire to live with the father while the younger child wanted to continue living with the mother. ...

A mother appealed an order saying that a family report prepared by a family consultant had not addressed all of the concerns raised by the mother.  The judge had suggested that some allegations raised by the mother...

A lawyer representing a father applied for two reports prepared by a family consultant to be set aside and for the family consultant to be discharged as the reports were not independent. The judge found that...

The case involved a child aged 10 years who had lived with the maternal grandparent since infancy when the parents separated.  The father ceased contact when the child was aged 3 years.  The mother died when...

Three children including twins aged 6 years and a 3 year old infant had always lived in the primary care of the mother.  The father worked rostered shift work and he was an untested primary carer....

After separating the mother of children aged 4 years and 7 months lived 32 kilometres from the father who saw his children every fortnight.  The father re-partnered and the mother had difficulty adjusting to his new...

A father of a 4 year old child was self-represented and conducted proceedings in such a persistent manner that the judge concluded that the father had single mindedly pursued his entitlements with a result that the...

A mother separated due to complaints of family violence.  The mother reported that the father was both controlling and emotionally abusive towards her in the presence of children aged 9 and 10 years, and that he...

The case involved a 14 year old who felt hopeless due to the ongoing conflict over him between the parents that had continued since the parents finally separated four years earlier.  The boy lived with the...

A maternal grandmother applied that children aged 3 and 5 years live with her and that she share in parental responsibility along with the parents (grandparent).  The grandmother had been significantly involved with both children since...

  The parents separated before the child was born.  The child who was aged 7 years at the time of the hearing had lived with the mother for six years before a family court issued an...

A mother experienced an ongoing period of severe mental illness after the birth of a child, where the mental illness impacted on parenting.  The mother had been diagnosed with ADHD as a child and took Ritalin...

The child was aged 6 years at the time of the hearing, and had been previously cared for by the mother, father and paternal grandmother.  The mother was aged 16 years when the child was born,...

After parents separated a child lived with the mother and spent time with the father who lived with a male companion.  The mother alleged that the child was sexually abused and withheld the child from the...