QLD Breach of Family Court Orders - What to Do?

[algebra07]

Well, you can’t prove that Dad was actually drinking with the kids in his care, so a contravention order application is probably going to result in a lot of expense with no outcome.

The better option would be to send an email to the lawyer, telling them what you observed or heard and ask for their cooperation in reminding Dad that he is bound by order X which states he is to refrain from consuming alcohol while the children are in his care.

Thankyou that was my initial thoughts as well, just very frustrating that he cannot follow the orders and thinks he is above the law because he has the backing of parents with endless money and I don't. Contravention proceedings wouldn't cost me anything as I am self represented but of course I realise I cannot prove without the children that he was drinking only that he was at the pub, he is beyond stupid and only a matter of time before he is caught out.

I appreciate you taking time to reply to me, this has been a very stressful few months, I just cannot understand how someone who continually shows they have zero regard for there children's safety shows up guns ablazing in court trying to make the judge believe he has changed. Every time the children and I have high hopes that he has and he just blows it again and again, the children are the ones that suffer and he just doesn't get it!

 

[algebra07]

I would worry when they come back and said he had 10 beers not 2

Well no.1 they are young children and shouldn't have to be keeping count on how many beers there parent is consuming! No.2 he has a serious alcohol and drug addiction that anyone who has experience with will know they are unable to just have 1 or 2 beers something that he himself has admitted to in his own affidavit. No.3 the judge also thought it was bad enough that he gave a strict no alcohol order. No.4 his best mate wrote an affidavit stating he drunk and drug drove with the children which is exactly what he did yesterday.

So a normal person I would agree with your statement for sure but in this case I highly doubt he stopped at the 2 that the children told me about, they spent their time in a playground across the road so even if they were trying to keep count they were not even with him for the majority of the time they were at the pub.

 

[AllForHer]

Contravention proceedings wouldn't cost me anything as I am self represented

Well, even as an SRL, you can still have a costs order made against you, but in any case, I think contacting the lawyer will be the best option in the first instance, here.

 

[thatbloke]

I realise I cannot prove without the children that he was drinking only that he was at the pub,

What do the facebook photos show or is it just a tag? Is there an ICL involved? How old are the kids?

 

[Bill Murray]

yup - i reckon he is playing with you...
Judge really handed down an order that he is not to drink in the presence of the kids???

Yes - they do. Not frequently enough.

ANY DV/Family Court order with alcohol as a contributor to harm where contact is inevitable should have alcohol exclusion clauses on them.

 

[sammy01]

Disagree.

I had an avo against me... Accepted without admission. One of the stipulations was that I was not allowed to consume alcohol while with the kids... So the ex claimed I was an alcoholic... Maybe she was right... I look back on that time of my life and I was definitely using grog to self medicate through the end stages of a shitty marriage...

So we're clear here - She made accusations of violence, and alcohol as a contributor... It was never tested by the court, just accusations. Based on that you guys reckon my family court orders should dictate that I can't drink ever again, when the kids are with me?

 

[thatbloke]

disagree

Me too. Where do you draw the line on orders like that? Painkillers? Panadol? Trifle with alcohol?

 

[MartyK]

Me too. Where do you draw the line on orders like that? Painkillers? Panadol? Trifle with alcohol?

An order prohibiting a parent from consuming alcohol, especially when it is a known contributor to harm, is not dissimilar to an order prohibiting a parent from doing illegal substances when the children are in their care. The original poster has stated there is an order in place. The father is bound by the order whether he consumes 2 or 10 beers.

 

[sammy01]

Yep but Marty, you've said that should be the case where any suggestions of alcohol - "any DV/Family Court order with alcohol as a contributor to harm".

I had a DV order - it mentioned alcohol. It is entirely dis-similar to prohibiting a parent from doing illegal drugs. It is also impossible to police. Hair folicle drug tests are used in court... No equivalent for a legal product that can be bought at the supermarket exists...

More importantly - How to police it... My ex once tried to stop my time because I was rolling around with a drink.... appropriated what ever the kids had said and determined that I was rolling around drunk... I had a few friends and their kids around, we had a water slide, I had a can of lemonade and even if it was a can of beer, so what?

So what about tobacco... I desperately tried to get the ex to stop breast feeding, baby in one hand, ciggie in the other. Bad parenting sure. Something that can get legislated against? NOPE - She would not do it in public, but in the back-yard where no one would give her a filthy look. Sure - all the time

 

[MartyK]

Yep but Marty, you've said that should be the case where ANY suggestions of alcohol
"ANY DV/Family Court order with alcohol as a contributor to harm"
I had a DV order - it mentioned alcohol..... It is entirely dis-similar to prohibiting a parent from doing illegal drugs. It is also impossible to police. Hair folicle drug tests are used in court... No equivalent for a legal product that can be bought at the supermarket exists...
More importantly - How to police it... My ex once tried to stop my time because I was rolling around with a drink.... appropriated what ever the kids had said and determined that I was rolling around drunk... I had a few friends and their kids around, we had a water slide, I had a can of lemonade and even if it was a can of beer SO WHAT? So what about tobacco... I desperately tried to get the ex to stop breast feeding, baby in one hand, ciggie in the other. Bad parenting sure. Something that can get legislated against? NOPE - She would not do it in public, but in the back-yard where no one would give her a filthy look. Sure - all the time

I believe I have already stated it is almost impossible to police.

When it had been determined by the Court as a contributor of harm, as in the original posters situation, how so?

Your argument is a matter of semantics.