The parents of a primary school age girl consented to the extension of an Interim Care Order for her in a District Court in a rural town.
The legal representative for the father told the court that the father was unhappy with the level of response the parents were receiving from the social worker and the GAL. The GAL indicated that she had had a 90 minute conversation with the parents recently. The parents had an access visit recently with their daughter and handed into the court a note written by the child addressed to the judge. The judge commented that the child appeared to express herself in quite an adult manner and questioned if this inappropriately adultified communication was being influenced to some extent by her parents. The extension to the Interim Care Order was granted.
One month later, the CFA again made an application to extend an Interim Care Order on consent, this time for a seven week period. Issues discussed included arrangements for an access visit for the child with her parents on her birthday and also arrangements for access between the girl and a sibling. The extension to the Interim Care Order was once again granted.
