It’s important to understand supervised visits if you are subject to it, facing Family Court proceedings whether you or the other parent are applying for supervised contact. But what exactly does supervised access mean, and what do you need to know?
What is supervised access?
The definition of supervised access is where one or both parents have visitation with their child or children supervised by another person. An example of this could be supervision by a person they know, or through a service such as Children’s Contact Services, which is a type of supervisory provider. The purpose of this is to ensure the safety of the child during transfer between parents and during the time spent together.
Under the Australian Family Law Act 1975 (Cth), children have the right to have meaningful relationships with both parents. When Parenting Orders are made in relation to children, the Court will apply a presumption that it’s in the best interests of the child for both parents to have equal shared parental responsibility.
When the Court determines what is in the best interests of the child, they take the following factors into consideration (s60CC of the Family Law Act 1975):
- The requirement to protect the child from psychological or physical harm from being subjected to, or exposed to, abuse, neglect or family violence, and;
- The benefit to the child of having a meaningful relationship with both of their parents
When is supervised access ordered?
When there is a risk to the best interest of the child, the court can order supervised access. Circumstances when supervised access may be ordered under a Parenting Order can include:
- If there is fear that the child will be abducted by one of the parents
- Violence, emotional or sexual harm, from a parent or from risk of it from their environment
- A parent has a history of seriously neglecting their child
- Strong conflict between the parents of the child, and do not wish to see or speak to each other on hand over
- A parent is associated with significant drug or alcohol abuse
- When a parent has limited ability to care for their child or poor parenting skills
Emotional harm considerations in supervised access
In case law Slater & Light [2013] FamCAFC 4 (2013), a father appealed to the Full Court against Federal Magistrate Coates’ order for indefinite supervision of his time with his three children. The father, who had Autism, was alleged by the mother to pose an unacceptable risk of emotional harm to the children.
The Federal Magistrate had heard evidence from a court appointed psychiatrist and the father’s treating psychologist, with those experts expressing differing opinions as to the issue of risk. The Court concluded that, based on the evidence and the mother’s concerns, that there was no error at the time in finding that the father posed an unacceptable risk of emotional harm to his children.
Supervised access periods and their limitations
An order for supervised access will usually be made for a temporary period of time, with supervisors reporting to the court on their observations. The purpose is that the supervision will not be needed indefinitely. Following from supervised access, some circumstances may require a gradual reintroduction to the parent they haven’t been living with to slowly rebuild the relationship.
If an order for supervised access has been made without an end date, the parent under supervision may apply to the Court to vary this arrangement. In the above case of Slater & Light [2013], the order for supervised time was made correctly, but the appeal was justified on the basis that an indefinite supervision order was not appropriate. No opportunity was provided for the father to apply to vary the supervision arrangements later when the children were older, and his circumstances reassessed. In this case, the appeal was granted based on this fact.
Need to know more about supervised access or family law?
Family Law matters that arise because of separation or divorce can be highly stressful for both you as a parent and for your children. Getting sound advice from experienced Family Law practitioners is important, so that you understand your rights and entitlements, as well as those of your children.
We are experienced Family Lawyers in Swan Hill at Joliman Lawyers, we want to help you understand what reasonable outcome you can expect to achieve and guiding you through the process. Contact us for sensitive and honest advice – we’re here to help.
