Was it an appealable decision?
The mother appealed on the basis of a lack of procedural fairness for the mother in relation to the decision made by the primary Judge.
It is widely held, pursuant to U v U (2002) 211 CLR 238; [2002] HCA 26 that the Court is not bound by the proposal of any of the parties in proceedings and can make Orders of its own volition. However it is also accepted that, if the Court is to make Orders which would not have been contemplated by the parties, the Court must offer the parties an opportunity to make submissions in respect of it.
Justice Christie on Appeal held that the primary Judge failed to give the parties the ability to make submissions in relation to the proposal to commence time, unsupervised, without the father completing the anger management course. Justice Christie also found the primary judge failed to give adequate reasons for judgement. The appeal was allowed, and the matter remitted for rehearing.
