Galloway & Duke 2014 FamCA 569

The child aged 7 years had been in the primary care of the mother until the child disclosed incidents of family violence that had been perpetrated by the mother’s partner in a new relationship.  The child reported to a GP that the mother’s new partner had hit her with his hand on her head and face, hit her with a belt, with a wooden spoon and had held her head under water (physical abuse).

The judge accepted that there were significant changed circumstances and that the mother had not protected the child from an unacceptable risk of harm (capacity to protect).

The judge ordered that the mother’s new partner be restrained from communicating with or being in the presence of the child (restrained from being present).