Re Kara (No 6) [2020] NSWSC 1857

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Re Kara (No 6) [2020] NSWSC 1857 Hearing dates: 11 and 17 December 2020 Date of orders: 17 December 2020 Decision date: 17 December 2020 Jurisdiction: Equity Before: Williams J Decision: Continuation of previous orders authorising the confinement of the young person known as "Kara" to secure premises located in New South Wales until further order of the Court for the protective purposes identified in those orders. Catchwords: FAMILY AND CHILD WELFARE – parens patriae jurisdiction – Aboriginal young person under the parental responsibility of the Minister for all aspects except culture and religion – where orders previously made authorising medical treatment and confinement of the young person as an inpatient in a medical facility for the purposes of undertaking that treatment – where orders previously made authorising the confinement of the young person to secure premises outside the medical facility after discharge from the medical facility for the purposes of continuing medical treatment as an outpatient and rehabilitation and recovery and to protect the young person from risk to their safety – where young person has frequently absconded from the secure premises – whether appropriate to continue the previous orders – appropriate to continue previous orders pending the plaintiffs arranging a more suitable placement and otherwise subject to ongoing review by the Court Legislation Cited: Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 (NSW), ss 135A, 136 Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW) s 14 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) r 7.14 Cases Cited: GR v Department of Communities & Justice [2020] NSWSC 1622 P v NSW Trustee and Guardian [2015] NSWSC 579 Re Anita [2015] NSWSC 312 Re Kara (No 2) [2020] NSWSC 1148 Re Kara (No 3) [2020] NSWSC 1292 Re Kara (No 4) (Supreme Court of New South Wales, Rees J, 16 October 2020) Re Kara (No 5) [2020] NSWSC 1462 Re Kara [2020] NSWSC 1083 Re Sally [2011] NSWSC 1696 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Secretary, Department of Communities and Justice (First Plaintiff) Minister for Communities, Families and Disability Services (Second Plaintiff) Kara (First Defendant) Ms P (Second Defendant) (on 11 December 2020 only) Representation: Counsel: Ms K Shea (First and Second Plaintiffs) Ms D Ward (Instructed by Independent Legal Representative for the First Defendant) on 11 December 2020; Ms K Kelso (Independent Legal Representative for Frist Defendant) on 17 December 2020