Knowledge

The case of Lankester & Cribb [2018] FamCAFC 60 demonstrates how a Court will evaluate and balance the primary considerations in s 60CC of the Family Law Act. The matter concerned whether the primary judge had erred in making Orders initially suspending time between the mother and the child.

The often sensitive and emotion-charged nature of family law parenting proceedings means that the Australian judicial system must adapt the ordinarily strict rules of evidence and cross-examination to more appropriately deal with the complex circumstances that may arise in a family law situation. Section 102NA of the Family Law Act (Cth) (‘FLA’) presents a recent example of how the legislature has chosen to navigate the sensitive issue of family violence in the context of parenting and property cases.