evidence admissibility

A mother wanted to relocate and submitted that she experienced a psychological condition that would be alleviated if she were permitted to relocate.  The mother submitted that her level of distress was such that she had on occasions contemplated,...

There was dispute about the admissibility of a family report prepared by an expert when interim parenting orders were requested.  An ICL can tender a report from one expert assessor without a Court’s permission, whereas parties...

The case involved children who lived with their father and spent supervised contact with their mother.  Both the children and father saw separate treating psychologists.  A single expert witness had reviewed extensive material and had spoken...

The parents of a 6 year old girl had a shared care arrangement when the mother alleged that the child had been subject to sexual abuse by the father and paternal grandmother.  The mother applied for...

The parents separated with a child aged 8 years.  The mother left the home with the child and moved to a secret location after alleging domestic violence and alcohol abuse by the father.  The mother was concerned...

A 2 year old boy lived with his mother and spent time with his father.  The father sought an order by complaining that the mother had failed to arrange for the son to be present at a...

A father taped an interview with a family consultant without consent and asked that the tape be admissible evidence.  The father argued that the family consultant was biased against him (partisan), and that the tape would...

A mother alleged that the father had exposed three children to sexual abuse.  Independent assessments did not support this allegation.  The judge gave low weight to results of a psychometric test conducted by an assessing psychologist, but...

A couple had three children aged 7, 6 and 5 years at the time of the rulings.  The parents separated after 5 years of being together, and had been in dispute for at least 3 years. ...

The couple had two sons aged 10 and 8 years.  Evidence from a treating psychologist was submitted despite objections from the father. The judge ruled that evidence from a treating psychologist was admissible but that the...

A separating couple agreed to refer their child to a child and family psychologist for 10 sessions, with both parents initially attending sessions.  The father then ceased bringing the child to sessions citing other priorities.  The...

A wife referred to remarks made by her husband in a conference ordered by the court that made her fear for her safety.  The judge ruled that the information was inadmissible as evidence as the session...

A couple attended a joint family counselling session where the wife made admissions.  The husband subsequently applied for custody of their children and subpoenaed the counsellor’s file in support of his case.  The trial judge noted...

Two parents attended a family counselling session at an agency and later consented to documents about the session being disclosed to court and to the parties.  However the agency declined to provide the documents on the...

A trial judge ruled that while documents produced by a subpoena were inadmissible evidence they could be viewed by parties.  The judgment was appealed in the Full Court who ruled that documentation by family counsellors was both...

A separated couple attended post-separation courses, and contact by the father was supervised by an agency (supervision by agency).  The mother reported to the family law court that she had received two phone calls from a...

A couple had 4 children, KB aged 7 years, TG aged 3 years and twins WB and JB aged 9 months.  The mother had two older children who were on child protection orders and who lived...