 Bond ... a mother has been forced to stay in an isolated town by the Family Court. File picture |
- Couple split after moving to remote town
- Court says mum cannot leave with daughter
- Dad wants her near and won't leave job
WIVES who follow their husbands to remote corners of Australia in search of work may find themselves stuck in their new home town, unable to leave with the children.
The Family Court has ruled that new shared-parenting laws, brought in by the Howard government in 2006, mean that the right of a child to have a relationship with both parents trumps the right of a mother to return to her home state, even if she has lived in the new location for less than a year.
In the most recent case, the court ruled that a 34-year-old mother could not leave an "isolated" town in northwest Queensland with her five-year-old daughter after her marriage broke down, because it would rupture the close relationship the girl had with her father.
The case has prompted concern among family law experts that the shared-parenting law is effectively forcing people "back into failed relationships".
Elspeth McInnes, a researcher in family law at the University of South Australia, cited research by the Family Law Councilthat suggested the right of women to relocate after divorce had essentially been lost, under the amendments to the Family Law Act.
"Previously, judges were prepared to consider the idea that women or mums could go where there is extended family support for them and their children," Ms McInnes told The Australian.
The mother in the northwest Queensland case, known in court transcripts as Mrs Rosa, got married in 2000 and had her child in 2002.
She lived with her husband in Sydney until 2007, when he got a job as a mining engineer in a remote part of Queensland. The town is not named in the transcript, but is described as "isolated".
The Rosas moved up as a family, but after eight months, the husband told the wife that the marriage was over, put her possessions in boxes, and put them on the deck.
Mrs Rosa, 34, took their daughter back to her mother's house in Sydney but the father petitioned the Family Court for their return, saying he wanted to maintain a relationship with his child.
During court proceedings, the mother argued that the father could quit his job and return to Sydney and share custody of their daughter in their home town.
He declined, saying his job had become important and was "interesting".
The court ruled that the mother could not leave northwest Queensland with the child. She argued that she was isolated and impoverished. She lives in a caravan, because it is the only accommodation she can afford. She appealed to the Full Court of the Family Court, which upheld the decision on May 15.
The federal magistrate said the mother's plan to move would have a "most serious and detrimental effect upon the very close and important relationship that exists (between the daughter and her Dad)".
Family law academic Barbara Biggs said: "It's a dreadful situation, to force a woman to live in a town where she has no family and no work, and to say that's the only way the child can be raised."
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