K, L and M, Re [2010] NSWSC 1264

New South Wales Supreme Court

CITATION : K, L and M, Re [2010] NSWSC 1264

HEARING DATE(S) : 29 October 2010

JUDGMENT DATE : 29 October 2010

JURISDICTION : Equity Division Adoption List

JUDGMENT OF : Palmer J

EX TEMPORE JUDGMENT DATE : 29 October 2010

DECISION : Consent dispensed with, adoption orders made, access increased.

CATCHWORDS : ADOPTION – children with special needs – whether in children's best interests that adoption order be made rather than continue parental responsibility order – whether natural parents' consent should be dispensed with – whether access to natural parents should be increased.

LEGISLATION CITED : Adoption Act 2000 (NSW) - s 67(1)(d)

CATEGORY : Principal judgment

Delegate of the Director-General, Department of Human Services (Plaintiff) PARTIES : Mr B (First Defendant) Ms A (Second Defendant)

FILE NUMBER(S) : SC A15/2010

M.W. Anderson (Plaintiff) COUNSEL : In person (First Defendant) Ms D. Ward (Second Defendant)

I.V. Knight, Crown Solicitor (Plaintiff) SOLICITORS : In person (First Defendant) Ms M. Phillips (Second Defendant)

A15/2010 Re K, L and M

JUDGMENT – Ex tempore 29 October, 2010

1 In accordance with the requirements of s 180 of the Adoption Act 2000 (NSW), I will not refer to the persons concerned in these proceedings in a manner which will identify them. 2 This is an application by the Delegate of the Director-General, Department of Human Services, for an order under s 67(1)(d) of the Adoption Act dispensing with the consent of the natural parents to the adoption of their three children and for a consequential order for the adoption of those children by their present foster parents. 3 The natural parents, Ms A and Mr B, do not seek the return of the children to their custody. They recognise that the foster parents, Mr and Mrs J, are caring for the children very well and that the children will have a better standard of life if they remain in the care of Mr and Mrs J. However, Mr B and Ms A love their children very much and cannot bring themselves to consent to their adoption. Further, they wish to maintain the level of contact they presently have with the children, which is nine times a year, whereas the clinical psychologist who has assessed the children's needs recommends a reduction in contact to a minimum of four longer periods per year during school holidays in order to avoid disruption to the schooling of the children. 4 Accordingly, the issues are: