VIC I feel my children are unsafe with there mother

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Hoang Trang

Well-Known Member
22 July 2016
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What proof do you have that he's spiking drinks?

Someone told you so? That's hearsay, not evidence.

A criminal conviction? That's evidence.

But even so, what's that got to do with the kids? Is he spiking the kids' drinks?

You can certainly take the kids when there's no Court order. Should you, though? Probably not. It will most likely backfire on you in Court later on.

What would the repercussions be if it did indeed back fire? The obvious being the children returned back to their mother. But could it have a impact on the judge when making final orders? Perhaps too many parents take it upon themselves to withhold children for whatever reasons. GENUINE welfare concerns is without a doubt, but how about situations where that parent was jealous and or vindictive?

It has happened to me and my children have had a lasting impact. Would this not be considered boader line child abuse?
 
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sammy01

Well-Known Member
27 September 2015
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Rod - there is a group of people in society, teachers, police officers, doctors etc who are all 'mandatory notifiers'. So I'm a teacher. If a person informs me of information that is grounds for concern, I have a legal obligation to notify my principal and I also must ensure the principal notifies DOC's. In reality, it is just logging something onto a Doc's database and sadly, unless it is something substantial Doc's do nothing... But it will start the paper trail.

So if a parent informed me at parent teacher night that their ex is the primary carer of the kids and the parent has concerns for the wellbeing of the child because the ex appears erratic and the parent has reason to believe the ex is on ICE, I would notify my principal as a mandatory notifier, because I have a legal responsibility to do so.
 

Rod

Lawyer
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27 May 2014
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www.hutchinsonlegal.com.au
Hi Sammy,

Each state has their own legislation that is similar but I haven't compared differences between them. I also have no practical experience in this area so will certainly defer to those with experience on how things work on a day to day basis versus how reporting should work in theory.

I expect many people with mandatory reporting obligations may decide to take the 'safe step' with respect to the own careers and make a report despite not having a reasonable belief but just because they don't want their career to be affected by not reporting. BTW this is in no way directed at you Sammy, just a general observation of how people are likely to protect themselves.

Reasonable belief can be formed by hearing someone who knows a child saying that the child has been physically or sexually abused but in the OPs case there is no evidence indicating either of these two things have happened. Being afraid is not sufficient reason to make a report.

Now having said that I completely understand the OPs concerns if things have really happened the way they are described and if it was my kids I be attempting to work out how to keep them safe, which may well include withholding them from the mother. I'd seriously consider court orders and ask for drug testing. I'd be asking the kids if they have seen any drugs laying around as access to drugs by children could be seen as placing them in a dangerous situation.