By Craig Nicol and Keleigh Robinson -
Key decisions
- Paige & Bellanger [2026] FedCFamC1A 59
- Hronn & Tracey (No 2) [2026] FedCFamC1A 56
- Shehu & Vicario [2026] FedCFamC1A 49
- Tanit [2026] FedCFamC1F 171
CHILDREN
Contravention – paternal grandmother ‘aided and abetted’ father’s forcible abduction of the children from mother in a foreign country – appeal from sentence of four months imprisonment dismissed
In Paige & Bellanger [2026] FedCFamC1A 59 (9 April 2026) the Full Court (Aldridge, Austin & Curran JJ) heard a paternal grandmother’s appeal from orders of Judge O’Shannessy, sentencing her to a term of imprisonment for her complicit contravention of parenting orders.
Final parenting orders were made in August 2021. The mother took the children to Africa. In January 2022, the father obtained warrants from an African court for the arrest of the children, mother and maternal family. The children were returned to the mother’s care following her release from custody, but the children were then forcibly removed from her care by the paternal family on 15 March 2022.
