NSW He's out of jail.. now what..

[_lost_]

To keep the history brief.. we ended with an DVO and he couldn't not come near me or children for 1 year.
After that DVO ended I did my best with access and keeping him in their life and tried to separate him ás a father' from him as an ex. We agreed on a parenting plan which I did up myself - making holidays etc fair. He had them now and then on weekends - when he felt like it. I never denied him that.
Then he got into a dv relationship where our children witnessed them hurt each other. I stopped them going to stay with him. No police were involved but children told me quit vividly what was going on.
For about 1 year after that relationship ended he saw them only in public places, supervised by me.
He got into a second bad relationship but I continued to let him see the children in public with me. That relationship involved police and a few AVO's which he breached a number of times.. he ended up serving 2.5 years for this. I feel there might be more to it (like assault) but not too sure. Her children were taken away from her by DOCS because of all this.
He's now been out for 4 days and asking to see our children. I'm lost. I can't keep him away forever as I know the court will make sure they see him although I truly don't believe he's good for them. I know he'll fight more this time and go down the avenue of court - so I need something more in place, than just me supervising. I'm concerned about seeing him as he has clearly worsened over the years. I'm worried for my children who are under 12 and their voices don't seem to be heard in court, they will be nervous about seeing him.
Is a court likely to make me hand over our children, when other children were taken away due to his anger? Should I start mediation in order to try facilitate something supervised? or just wait?
Any advice is greatly appreciated..

 

[AllForHer]

Actually, jail time and convictions for violent crimes, especially family violence, are all very good reasons for the Court to grant dad no time with the children.

You are correct that nominating yourself as the supervising party is not appropriate in the circumstances. There are contact centres available which serve the explicit purpose of facilitating children's time with a parent in a supervised and secure environment. You can search 'child contact services [your local area]' easily enough and find a few places that offer such a service.

Since you don't already have orders, and considering the history, it may be best to refuse to facilitate time except at a supervised contact centre at this stage. If dad doesn't want to do that, fine, he can file for Court.

 

[_lost_]

Thanks for your response. That's what my gut tells me - don't budge and go for supervised. I don't know how he's changed due to being in jail that long. His dv seems to have gotten worse with each relationship.
I have an 11yr old who never wants to see him again (who remembers our break up and saw one of his relationships since), but I have a 9yr old who thinks he's a saint. I only told them he moved away for work. It's a tricky line between keeping them safe/ they are too young to process the truth/ not wanting to taint his idea of daddy.. but knowing he's not good for them. My youngest is too young to really know either way.
I'll wait on his move then I guess...