Kinnaird [2026] FedCFamC1F 36 (23 January 2026)

(a) The child's education (both current and future);

(b) The child's religious and cultural upbringing;

(c) The child's health;

(d) Requesting that Medicare issue a card for the child and claiming Medicare benefits for the child;

(e) Requesting a copy of the child's birth certificate and dealing with the Office of Births, Deaths and Marriages;

(f) Dealing with NDIS and making any applications if required; and

(g) Dealing with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Passport Offices and visa providers.

1. That the applicant have responsibility for all day-to-day decisions with respect to the child.

1. That pursuant to s 114Q of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth), the applicant is granted leave to publish a copy of these Orders to all service providers for the child, including but not limited to the child's school, treating medical practitioners, any other doctors, therapists, counsellors, government departments, health insurer, passport and visa providers, or, for securing any financial support for the child.
2. That these Orders are authority for the applicant to schedule and consent to treatment, therapy, schooling, programs, services and the like for the child, and to give and receive such information from service providers as a parent would ordinarily receive.

1. That pursuant to s 65Y of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth), the applicant is permitted to take or permit the child to travel overseas.
2. That pursuant to s 11 of the Australian Passports Act 2005 (Cth), the applicant is hereby authorised to execute all documents necessary to obtain an Australian Passport and travel documents for and on behalf of Y born in 2014, without the need for any parent's signature.

1. That the event any wording in these Orders constrains or otherwise fetters the applicant's ability to deal with service providers for the child, she is at liberty to approach chambers, via ...@fcfcoa.gov.au, under r 10.13 of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Family Law) Rules 2021 (Cth) deposing to the problem and proposing relevant amendment/s by way of affidavit.

1. That pursuant to s 65DA(2) of the Family Law Act 1975 the particulars of the obligations these Orders create and the particulars of the consequences that may follow if a person contravenes these Orders are set out in "Parenting Orders - obligations, consequences and who can help" and these particulars are included in these Orders.

Note: The form of the order is subject to the entry in the Court's records.

Note: This copy of the Court's Reasons for judgment may be subject to review to remedy minor typographical or grammatical errors (r 10.14(b) Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Family Law) Rules 2021 (Cth)), or to record a variation to the order pursuant to r 10.13 Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Family Law) Rules 2021 (Cth).

Part XIVB of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) makes it an offence, except in very limited circumstances, to publish an account of proceedings that identify persons, associated persons, or witnesses involved in family law proceedings.

IT IS NOTED that publication of this judgment by this Court under the pseudonym Kinnaird has been approved pursuant to subsection 114Q(2) of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth).

1. The applicant in this matter is Ms Kinnaird ("the applicant"). She was born in 2002 and is the older sister of the subject child in these proceedings, Y born in 2014.
2. The applicant and Y also have a brother, X, the middle sibling, who was born in 2009. X is of an age where he has decided not to move locations with his sisters, but to finish his education at the school he attends. No one seeks orders about X, and that is perfectly understandable in the circumstances.
3. The mother and the father of the siblings - comprising the applicant, X and Y - have both passed away.
4. Their mother, Ms B Kinnaird, died in late 2022 from brain cancer.
5. Their father, Mr C Kinnaird, died in early 2024 in a motor vehicle accident. Rather poignantly, the applicant deposes that the coroner told her that her father had died of a broken heart.
6. Since then, the applicant, as the oldest of the sibship, has done the best she can to look after Y and X. She also has her own child, D, born in 2022. She is separated from D's father.
7. The applicant subsequently re-partnered but ended that relationship due to family violence.
8. At the time of bringing the application for acceptance into the Critical Incident List in December 2025, the applicant, her baby and Y were living in a family violence shelter, having escaped the violence of that relationship. It seems X self-placed with friends.
9. The material before the Court was filed on 10 December 2025 by way of an Initiating Application and affidavit from the applicant.
10. The first return was held the next day because the applicant, Y and D were living in a refuge in New South Wales, but the applicant wished to transfer with her sister and baby to Queensland. For that, she needed a parenting order to show that she had the care of Y.
11. I made Orders the next day, being 11 December 2025, to facilitate the applicant's ability to make an application for the accommodation she sought in Queensland. It was preferable for the applicant, Y and her baby D to be settled somewhere rather than living in an emergency refuge.
12. I issued s 67ZBD requests to the Department of Communities and Justice ("the Department") and the New South Wales Police Force ("Police"). Those records are now before me, have been marked as Exhibits, and shared with the applicant's solicitor.
13. There is no natural contradictor in this matter and the therapeutic approach I take in Critical Incident List matters - where it is in a child's best interests - is to get people in and out of the court system as quickly as possible.
14. I can see no good reason to not finalise the matter today in the circumstances I have described. I am also satisfied in reaching that conclusion because the s 67ZBD report from the Department dated 11 December 2025, says they are not working with the family.
15. There were some concerns that were brought to the Department's attention in May 2025 and July 2024, concerning both Y and the applicant. Having discussed those items with the applicant's solicitor and having looked at all of the records available to me, they are consistent with the applicant fleeing that domestically violent relationship. I also note that several of the notifications were screened out for risk of serious harm to a child.
16. What this s 67ZBD report also tells me is that the Department has had eyes on the siblings but have not taken any child protection steps. That they are not working with the family gives me some comfort in making final orders today.

1. Section 60CG of the F_amily Law Act 1975_ (Cth) ("the Act") imposes a statutory imperative to ensure that a parenting order does not expose a person to an unacceptable risk of family violence and empowers the Court to include in the order any safeguards that it considers necessary for the safety of those affected by the order.
2. I pause to observe that with the applicant's consent, this Court transferred the matter from the City E Registry to the Brisbane Registry so the applicant could, if she wanted, take advantage of the Lighthouse Project. That is a confidential program. It is not something about which I have any visibility, but with the matter transferred to Brisbane, the applicant had access to, if she wanted, what is on offer from Lighthouse.
3. I return to the principles.
4. Section 65D(1) of the Act provides the Court can make such parenting orders as it thinks proper (subject to s 65DAB of the Act, which is irrelevant for present purposes). A "parenting order" is defined in s 64B of the Act. Section 60B of the Act sets out the objects of Part VII of the Act, and that is:

The objects of this Part are:

(a) to ensure that the best interests of children are met, including by ensuring their safety; and

(b) to give effect to the Convention on the Rights of the Child done at New York on 20 November 1989.

1. Section 60CA of the Act provides that a child's best interests are paramount consideration in making a parenting order. Section 60CC of the Act addresses those best interests and provides:

(1) Subject to subsection (4), in determining what is in the child's best interests, the court must:

(a) consider the matters set out in subsection (2); and

(b) if the child is an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child - also consider the matters set out in subsection (3).

1. Notably, s 60CC(1)(b) concerns children who are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.
2. Subsection (4) does not apply - that is with respect to consent orders. But s 60CC(1)(b) to which I have just referred and s 60CC(3) do apply because the applicant and her siblings are Aboriginal. I am satisfied that by the sisters staying together, they will be able to share their sense of culture.
3. I turn to the other aspects of s 60CC of the Act in so far as they are relevant.

(a) what arrangements would promote the safety (including safety from being subjected to, or exposed to, family violence, abuse, neglect, or other harm) of: (i) the child; and (ii) each person who has care of the child (whether or not a person has parental responsibility for the child);

1. I am satisfied that the applicant, having fled a violent relationship and having protected herself, her own child and her sister, Y, has herself taken steps to promote their safety.
2. I look forward to the day that it is the accused or the respondent to a family violence order who is the one that has to take the steps that are protective of the aggrieved. But I do not see that day coming anytime soon. Nevertheless, the applicant has taken the steps to protect her own safety, that of her siblings and her own child.
3. I am also satisfied that in bringing this application, the applicant is taking steps to ensure not only her safety but also Y's safety so that she could find or be considered for a different form of accommodation in Queensland.

1. This is not really a views matter. This is about giving the applicant the agency and empowerment to make what decisions she needs to for her sister and, incidentally, her own child and herself.

**_(c) the developmental, psychological, emotional and cultural needs of the child;

(d) the capacity of each person who has or is proposed to have parental responsibility for the child to provide for the child's developmental, psychological, emotional and cultural needs;_**

1. Subsections 60CC(2)(c) and (d) really go hand in hand.
2. I have already mentioned the applicant was able to access the Lighthouse Project if she wished. It is obvious to me too that she has some supports around her because of the letter that is attached to her affidavit. I will mark the annexures to her affidavit as I am required to under r 8.15(3) of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Family Law) Rules 2021 (Cth) as Exhibit 3.
3. The applicant has taken the steps that she can to meet Y's needs and obviously her own child's needs.
4. Part of s 60CC(2)(c) are the cultural needs of the child and I have already referred to that.

(e) the benefit to the child of being able to have a relationship with the child's parents, and other people who are significant to the child, where it is safe to do so;

1. Sadly, the siblings' parents have passed, but the sibship have each other.
2. From my earlier discussions with the instructing solicitor in December 2025, I understand that whilst X is doing his own thing, understandable at his age, they all keep in touch. X is of an age where he can individuate and make his own choices, but there is no suggestion that the sibship has broken down.

(f) anything else that is relevant to the particular circumstances of the child.

1. As already touched upon, where it is in a child's best interests, I consider those best interests to be enhanced by having Critical Incident List matters finalised as quickly as possible.
2. The applicant herself is a young woman with her own child and caring for her sister. That is a lot for her to deal with, and I encourage her, as she seems to be doing, to continue accessing community supports available to her. Her responsibilities may not be easy but she has, to use the vernacular, stepped up to the plate to look after not only her own child, but also her younger sister, Y. I commend her for doing that.
3. In the premises, the last thing the applicant needs is to come back to this Court for no good reason. Therefore I will be making final orders so the applicant can get on with the parenting of her own child and her sister.
4. I note from the s 67ZBD reports from Child Safety and Police (now marked as Exhibits), Y had some difficulties, unsurprisingly, in the middle of 2024. She had some risky behaviours, but she had just lost her father and not long before that lost her mother. But again, as said, the Department is not now working with the family, so even though they have had eyes on the siblings, they must not see any child protection concerns warranting proceedings.
5. I turn specifically to ss 60CC(3) which concerns Indigenous children. I must consider the following matters:

(3) For the purposes of paragraph (1)(b), the court must consider the following matters:

(a) the child's right to enjoy the child's Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander culture, by having the support, opportunity and encouragement necessary:

(i) to connect with, and maintain their connection with, members of their family and with their community, culture, country and language; and

(ii) to explore the full extent of that culture, consistent with the child's age and developmental level and the child's views; and

(iii) to develop a positive appreciation of that culture; and

(b) the likely impact any proposed parenting order under this Part will have on that right.

1. The sibship of sisters will be together. They will be able to enjoy, learn, discover, and develop their own connections to land and water, their customs, and their mob. I am required to consider that connection or the maintenance of that connection to explore the full extent of their culture and to develop positive appreciation of that culture.
2. Next, (b) is the likely impact any parenting order under this Part will have on those rights. These Orders will not impede that connection to culture or their rights.
3. I am satisfied that Y, a young Aboriginal woman living with her sister Ms Kinnaird, who is also an Aboriginal woman, will offer those benefits to which the Act speaks.
4. For those reasons, I make Orders on a final basis as discussed with the applicant's solicitor at the start of this hearing. That includes a slip rule Order so that if the wording of these Orders constrains the applicant's ability to get services for Y, then there is the slip rule mechanism, for which the applicant can seek an amendment not to the substance of the Orders, but to the wording.

I certify that the preceding forty-three (43) numbered paragraphs are a true copy of the Ex Tempore Reasons for Judgment of the Honourable Justice Brasch.