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Does the Family Court

believe in the
Easter Bunny?

For many Christians, Easter is considered the
FAMILY most important event in the church’s calendar.
LAW Around the same time, other religions of course also have

important events as well. There is “Passover” for the Jews,
“Holi” for Hindus, Buddha’s Birthday for Buddhists and
Tomb-sweeping day for the Chinese. Within Christianity
too there is conflict. For example, the Eastern Orthodox
Church calculates Easter on a different day because they
use a different calendar and Jehovah Witnesses, expressly
forbid their members from partaking in the ancillary
practices of Easter Eggs and the like. Each of these religions
WILLS typically encourage families to celebrate the events as one,
INJURY AND but what happens when the family breaks down and the
parents separate?
LAW ESTATES Where the parents share the same faith but cannot be civil
with each other, Family Court Judges can and routinely
do make orders placing the children exclusively in the
care of one parent for the religious event in one year and
alternating to the other parent in the following year. This
generally occurs even in cases where one parent accuses
the other of being non-devout and therefore unlikely
to practice the relevant religious traditions at all. This is
because the Australian Constitution prohibits any branch
of the government from discriminating against any person
on grounds of their religious (or non-religious) convictions.
CONVEYANCING Where the parents hold different religious affiliations and
adherence to one faith falls into direct conflict with the
other, Family Courts again can make orders ranging all the
way up to banning the children from a specific religious
or festive practice. If orders of this type are to be made
however, a Judge will never do so by attempting to work
out which religion is “better” than the other. Instead the
Courts will look at each parent’s competing beliefs and
practices as if they were a “life style choice” and from there
go on to assess which of these competing lifestyles offer a
better fit for the children’s best interest having regard to
the full spread of all of the aspects of the children’s life with
one parent or the other.
Thus far, no Family Court Judge has ever made an order
banning the Easter Bunny from one house or ordering
Norwinn Centre, 15 Discovery Drive that he be permitted to enter another but in an extreme
situation of parental conflict a Judge certainly has the
North Lakes power to do so.
PH 3385 0999 Michael Zande is a Queensland Law Society accredited family
law specialist with over 25 years experience in the field. He is
the principal at Zande Law Solicitors, Suite 7, Norwinn Centre,
www.zandelaw.com.au ZANDE 15 Discovery Drive, North Lakes. To contact Michael for advice,
phone 3385 0999.
The information in this article is merely a guide and is not a full
L A W explanation of the law. This firm cannot take responsibility for
any action readers
take based on this
information. When
making decisions that
could affect your legal
rights, please contact
us for professional
advice.
March 2018 www.northlakesnow.com.au 13