Stranded mother goes to High Court
THE High Court will today consider whether to hear an appeal by a mother who has been forced by the Family Court to stay with her daughter in a remote mining town in western Queensland because her ex-husband does not want to move.
THE High Court will today consider whether to hear an appeal by a mother who has been forced by the Family Court to stay with her daughter in a remote mining town in western Queensland because her ex-husband does not want to move.
The couple lived in Sydney for seven years before they moved to the town in January 2007. They separated six months later and the Family Court has ruled the mother cannot leave the mining town with her daughter because the child's father does not want to go.
Under the Howard government's shared parenting laws, introduced in 2006, the Family Court must presume that the child's best interests are served by having a relationship with both parents after separation, unless there is violence.
The new laws have made it harder for women to relocate after divorce. The laws are now under review.
The mother appealed to the Full Court of the Family Court, and lost. She has sought leave to appeal to the High Court, which will consider the matter today.
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