Department of Community Services v D & Ors [2004] NSWSC 1241

New South Wales Supreme Court

CITATION : Department of Community Services v D & Ors [2004] NSWSC 1241 HEARING DATE(S) : 16, 17 and 20 December, 2004 JUDGMENT DATE : 20 December 2004

JURISDICTION: Equity Division Adoption List - Closed Court JUDGMENT OF : Palmer J DECISION : Adoption order made as sought.

CATCHWORDS : ADOPTION - CONSENT - WHETHER EFFECTIVE - Birth mother gives general consent to adoption while suffering severe depression and post-traumatic stress - whether consent effective under s.58(2)(d) Adoption Act. HELD: Birth mother's consent ineffective. - ADOPTION - CONSENT DISPENSE ORDER - Whether birth mother's mental condition and general circumstances required that her consent to adoption be dispensed with and adoption order made. HELD: Consent dispense order made. LEGISLATION CITED : - Adoption Act 2000 (NSW) - s.8, s.52, s.53, s.58, s.67, s.70, s.84, s.87, s.90, s.92, s.180 - Children and Young Person's (Care and Protection) Act 1998 (NSW) Director-General, Department of Community Services - Plaintiff PARTIES : "E" - Child "D" - Natural mother "F" - Putative adoptive parents FILE NUMBER(S) : SC 80080/04 G.A. Moore - Plaintiff COUNSEL : Ms M.A. Cleary - "E" M.W. Anderson - "D" Ms M. Falloon - "F" I.V. Knight, Crown Solicitor - Plaintiff SOLICITORS : Ms K. Renshall - "E" Legal Aid Commission - "D" Colquhoun & Colquhoun - "F"

1 The Director-General, Department of Community Services ("DOCS") seeks an order under s.87(b) of the Adoption Act 2000 (NSW) ("the Act") for the adoption of a child, identified as E, in favour of a married couple whom I shall identify as Mr and Mrs F. The application is opposed by E's birth mother, identified as D. 2 The case was brought on for hearing as a matter of extreme urgency because of the acute distress which the parties were suffering, as will appear hereafter. At the conclusion of argument I thought it best to give a decision immediately, with an outline of my reasons, and to publish later a judgment amplifying those reasons. This is that judgment. 3 The names of the parties and any details which may serve to identify them have been omitted from the judgment to secure anonymity, in accordance with the policy recognised in s.180 of the Act. The judgment is published, however, because it may be of assistance to the profession. The facts