Supervisor’s Template - Module 3 Task 2: Application for contravention of court parenting orders

Please read the model answer to the previous task very carefully before proceeding through the remainder of this Internship. Your supervisor has requested
that you urgently prepare for three possibilities around the whereabouts of the children. The first possibility is that the former husband has the children,
has deliberately contravened the order but is not intending to leave the country. Please prepare for this possibility. Here is your task. We recommend
you spend 3-4 hours on this task.

You should be able to find your answers at the following websites:

https://www.fcfcoa.gov.au/hdi/breaches

https://justicefamilylawyers.com.au/family-law/court/contravention-of-court-orders/

https://www.fcfcoa.gov.au/hdi/serve-fl-documents

Your task Insert your answer here

(a) What are the order/s the client might be seeking?
An application for contravention of court orders
A supporting affidavit
A certificate from a family dispute resolution practitioner, or an
affidavit for non-filing of a family dispute resolution certificate
A copy of the existing orders

(b) Explain the procedure as applied to this particular client’s facts
The paragraph of the order that was contravened must be specified.
A certificate from a registered family dispute resolution practitioner
proves that the people involved in the application have attempted to
resolve the dispute without going to court.
However, exceptions can be made in cases that involve family
violence, child abuse, the risk of family violence or child abuse, or if
the circumstances make it very urgent.

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(c) What problem might there be due to the service requirement?
https://www.fcfcoa.gov.au/hdi/serve-fl-documents
Insert your answer here
An affidavit for the non-filing of a family dispute resolution certificate
would be required instead.
This affidavit allows the applicant to explain the matters that make
their application urgent or why the other party cannot participate
effectively in family dispute resolution.
If an application requires a family dispute resolution certificate and
the applicant cannot provide one, the court will not be able to accept
the application.
If you are unable to effect service in a way required by the court
rules, even after you have taken all reasonable steps to, you can
apply to the Court for an order for:
service with conditions (which allows you to serve court
documents on a third person who the court is satisfied will bring
the court documents to the attention of the person to be served;
or allows you to serve by post rather than service by hand);
or
dispensation of service (which allows the court to dispense
with the requirement of service) - please note dispensation of
service will only be granted in exceptional circumstances.
You will need to take all reasonable steps to serve the
documents and refer to these steps in an affidavit supporting
your application. If you need help to complete this type of
application or are unsure whether you are eligible to file this
application you should obtain legal advice. A lawyer can help
you understand your rights and responsibilities before you apply.
To apply for an order seeking to dispense with service or for
substituted service, you can seek the orders within the
application or file an application in a proceeding with a
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supporting affidavit setting out why the court should make the
service order.

(d) What will you include in the supporting affidavit?

Tips: read the Contravention application. What does your client want from the
Contravention application? How do you best present this? The client wants her children back and action against the O/P.

What is an affidavit?

An affidavit should:

 have an organised logical structure (numbered paragraphs);

 be a first person account in the language of the witness (deponent);
 be relevant and admissible (delete irrelevance and hearsay);
 be in past tense.

For guidance, we advise referring to the LawAccess NSW Affidavit resource.

Although it is a NSW resource (and this may or may not be where you live), it
provides general guidelines on drafting affidavits that are applicable in all
jurisdictions including for Family Law. The Checklist for Writing Affidavits
there is useful too.

This resource makes some good points about Family Law affidavits:
http://www.samfordfamilylaw.com.au/affidavit-tips-samford-family-law/

But for the sake of this task we are not asking you to draft and provide the
affidavit. We are asking you to consider what is the most important information
to provide to the court as numbered evidence.

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Submit and access the model answer. Then compare your answers to the model answers.

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