Key points:
- Lockdown rules and 'reasonable excuses' to leave home exacerbating tensions
- Parents using lockdown confusion to deliberately avoid handing children over for shared custody arrangements
- Stress in renegotiating changeover arrangements for domestic abuse survivor victims
- Separated parents' fearful children are being exposed to COVID-19 and bringing virus home if other parent flouting lockdown rules
The uncertain nature of NSW's current Public Health Orders and 'reasonable excuses' to leave home are creating stress for separated families with shared custody and visitation arrangements.
Leading Sydney family lawyer Laura Donnelly said while any lockdown rules naturally placed pressure on post separation agreements, the current measures were exacerbating tensions in already fragile situations.
The director of Holmes Donnelly & Co Solicitors said the uncertainty was also sadly creating opportunities for one party to deliberately avoid their responsibilities to facilitate children's time with the other parent.
Ms Donnelly said it was a 'reasonable excuse' to leave your home to comply with legal obligations, but clients were finding the current situation left the door open for exploitation.
"It is an anxiety provoking situation for all parties, and while we appreciate the difficulty of creating public health rules that cover all scenarios, we do hope authorities can prioritise these issues," she said.
"Geographical restrictions have an inevitable impact on post separation families where both parents do not live within the "stay at home" area.
"But we are seeing parents utilising the current lockdown situation as a reason not to come to greater Sydney for the purposes of facilitating children's time with a parent.
"And there is also some confusion with changeover arrangements where one or both parents live within "stay at home" areas, particularly if this would normally happen in a public place, such as a school."
Ms Donnelly said there was also many people in a state of uncertainty who started separation processes following the previous Sydney lockdown due to physical violence or coercive control issues - but with the matters yet to be finalised.
"There are victim survivors proceeding through a separation but who have remained in the family home, usually to protect children, and are currently in very vulnerable situations without ease of ability to leave.
"And others who have been in these situations, but have since separated, are now required to attempt to negotiate further with the perpetrator to try to resolve necessary adjustments to parenting arrangements, where changeover is to occur during home schooling periods for example."
With the lockdown now extended and with no clear end in sight, these factors are increasing stress in post separation relationships and interfering in the routine of children moving between their parents' homes.
"Some parents have moved out of the family home with parenting arrangements yet to be agreed and are living with their elderly parents or third parties.
"These parents are raising genuine concerns about children being exposed to health risks and bringing that exposure home, particularly if one parent flouts lockdown rules," Ms Donnelly said.
"And in other cases some parents have moved out of the family home with parenting arrangements yet to be agreed and now with property settlements further from being finalised this is prolonging a very stressful situation.
"Where communication between separated parents is not at its most positive or constructive, any of these things can be a recipe for disaster."
The Family Court of Australia and the Federal Circuit Court of Australia have each established a court list dedicated to dealing exclusively with urgent family law disputes that have arisen as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, this has been created by a court already under severe resourcing pressure and it can take considerable time to resolve these pressing issues.
There have been an increasing number of separation cases slated to be settled through mediation and arbitration in recent months, principally to avoid an overburdened family court system.
