EDC (a Father) v Secretary, Department of Communities and Justice [2022] NSWSC 383

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: EDC (a Father) v Secretary, Department of Communities and Justice [2022] NSWSC 383 Hearing dates: 1 April 2022 Date of orders: 1 April 2022 Decision date: 01 April 2022 Jurisdiction: Equity - Duty List Before: Kunc J Decision: Proceedings summarily dismissed Catchwords: CHILD WELFARE — Jurisdiction — Supreme Court of New South Wales — Parens patriae — Application to vary contact arrangements refused when hearing already fixed in Children's Court Legislation Cited: Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 (NSW) Cases Cited: GR v Secretary, Department of Family and Community Services and Justice [2019] NSWCA 177 Hariz v Department of Communities and Justice [2021] NSWSC 519 Category: Principal judgment Parties: EDC (a Father) (Plaintiff)

The Secretary, Department of Communities & Justice (First Defendant) Representation: Solicitors:

J Wong (Crown Solicitor) First Defendant) File Number(s): 2022/63276 Publication restriction: No

EX TEMPORE JUDGMENT (REVISED)

Summary 1. The plaintiff (the Father) brings these proceedings in the parens patriae jurisdiction of the Court against the defendant, the Secretary of the Department of Communities and Justice (the Secretary and the Department). The Father's son (the Child) is aged two years and three months and is currently the subject of proceedings in the New South Wales Children's Court. A comprehensive hearing in relation to the Child in the Children's Court is fixed for three days commencing on 24 June 2022 (the June Hearing). 2. Pursuant to an interim order of the Children's Court parental responsibility for the Child has been allocated to the Minister for Families and Communities (the Minister). The Child is in the care of his Mother (the Mother). The current contact arrangements provide for four hours contact per week between the Father and the Child. 3. The Father has filed an application in the Children's Court for interim contact orders seeking twice weekly three hour contact visits, fortnightly overnight weekend contact and weekend contact during school holidays. That application is one of the matters to be dealt with at the June Hearing. 4. The Father has sought substantially identical relief by a summons filed in this Court. The Secretary has moved for the summons to be dismissed as an abuse of process. It is well understood that where there are proceedings on foot in a recognised specialist court such as the Children's Court, this Court will only exercise its parens patriae jurisdiction to intervene in exceptional circumstances: see, for example, GR v Secretary, Department of Family and Community Services and Justice [2019] NSWCA 177. 5. There is no suggestion that the Child is in physical danger, not being cared for properly or is otherwise at risk. The Father's concerns, which the Court accepts he holds in good faith, centre on what he says are the deleterious psychological consequences for the Child of the current contact arrangements and the difficulties that have arisen in relation to those arrangements. 6. For the reasons which follow the Court accepts that the Father has not demonstrated that exceptional circumstances exist in relation to the Child that would warrant intervention by this Court in its parens patriae jurisdiction. Given that conclusion and the imminence of the June Hearing, the Court is satisfied that these proceedings are an abuse of process and should be struck out. 7. The Father represented himself. Miss J Wong, Solicitor, appeared for the Department.