Adoption of PS [2015] NSWSC 2159

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Adoption of PS [2015] NSWSC 2159 Hearing dates: 30 November, 1, 2 December 2015 Date of orders: 03 December 2015 Decision date: 03 December 2015 Jurisdiction: Equity - Adoptions List Before: Brereton J Decision: Adoption order made; amended adoption plan to be registered. Catchwords: FAMILY LAW AND CHILD WELFARE – child welfare under State legislation – adoption – whether the making of an adoption order is clearly preferable to any other order that could be made with respect to the care of the child – where child has given consent to adoption – weight to be ascribed to child's consent – where child settled in placement with proposed adoptive parent and has developed familial and psychological ties with adoptive parent – where child has made significant progress while in placement with adoptive parent – where birth mother's mental illness compromises parenting capacity – where no realistic prospect of restoration of child to care of birth parents – suitability of proposed adoptive parent – whether proposed adoptive parent supportive of birth mother contact – where supervision of contact by adoptive parent objected to by birth mother – registration of adoption plan – where amendments made to adoption plan during course of hearing – whether adoption plan appropriate and suitable to child's needs and parties understand and freely enter into it - where preserving the possibility of restoration would contravene the spirit of adoption principle (e1) – where not making an adoption order would compromise child's emotional and psychological development – where adoption would serve child's identity needs better than any potential alternative as it would confirm the child's identity with his psychological family while preserving the opportunity for him to know his birth parents and to understand why he does not live with them – whether proposed name change in best interests of child – where changing last name would reinforce child's membership of adoptive parent's family. Legislation Cited: (NSW) Adoption Act 2000, s 8(1), s 8(2), s 23(2), s 24(1), s 27(1), s 27(2), s 27(3), s 50, s 50(3), s 54(1), s 54(2), s 54(3), s 55, s 61(3), s 63, s 90(3), s 91, s 126 (NSW) Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998, s 90 (NSW) Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 Cases Cited: Adoption of SRB, CJB and RDB [2014] NSWSC 138 Application of A – re D [2006] NSWSC 1056 Director-General, Department of Community & Services v D [2007] NSWSC 762; (2007) 37 FLR 595 Director General Department of Family & Community Services v GKD [2011] NSWSC 1637 Texts Cited: The Honourable Justice PLG Brereton AM RFD, "Aspects of Domestic and International Law and Practice in Adoptions", 16th National Family Law Conference, 8 October 2014 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Secretary, New South Wales Department of Family and Community Services (plaintiff) PS (child) TLS (defendant mother) DS (natural father) Representation: Counsel: M Neville (plaintiff) S Leis (defendant mother)