Australia, July 3 -- New South Wales Land and Environment Court issued text of the following judgement on June 3:

1. The applicant sought administrative review under s 27(2) of the Child Protection (Working with Children) Act 2012 (NSW) ('the Act') of the decision of the Children's Guardian made on 30 October 2023 to cancel his working with children check clearance on the grounds that he poses a risk to the safety of children ('the Cancellation Decision').

2. The applicant had previously applied for a clearance, having nominated "education" as his child-related employment. He was granted a clearance on 23 March 2020 despite his previous convictions in 2019 after pleading guilty for "common assault" and "stalk or intimidate intending to cause fear of physical or mental harm (personal violence offence)" against an adult.

3. Subsequent to having granted the clearance, the Children's Guardian was notified on 31 May 2023 of new information about the applicant. Because records relevant to the safety of children had been identified, the Children's Guardian conducted an assessment under s 15(3) of the Act.

4. An Interim Bar was imposed under s 17 of the Act on 24 July 2023 because the Children's Guardian determined there was a likely risk to the safety of children if the applicant engaged in child-related work while the assessment took place.

5. At the time of the risk assessment, the applicant had criminal charges pending against him following allegations made by his wife of domestic violence towards her and their two children. On 25 July 2023, the applicant asked the Children's Guardian to hold off making a final decision until his Court hearing on 11 July 2024.

6. After completing its assessment, the Children's Guardian advised the applicant on 30 October 2023 that his WWCC clearance had been cancelled under s 23(1) of the Act and that he was barred from working with children for five years.

7. The domestic violence charges included allegations by his wife that he had physically assaulted her, threatened to kill her, and engaged in controlling and threatening behaviour towards her which impacted upon their two children. She alleged that he controlled their finances and also threatened her that if she ate, the children would also not eat. The applicant's wife also alleged that he had engaged in conduct where he sexually touched their daughter in an inappropriate manner and had physically harmed their son.

8. In what appears to be a somewhat bizarre aspect to this case, the applicant's wife alleged that the applicant demanded that she return to Bangladesh, leaving the two children in Australia. She further alleged that the applicant and his father had arranged for her brother in Bangladesh to be kidnapped and tortured unless she agreed to return to Bangladesh and leave the children in Australia.

9. After learning of her brother's alleged kidnapping on 7 April 2023, the applicant's wife fled the marital home with her two children the next day, and sought refuge. Records of the Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) contain a report entered on 8 April 2023 of sexual assault and psychological harm to the couple's daughter, with the father named as the perpetrator. DCJ referred the case to Police for investigation.

10. The applicant's wife provided a detailed account of the alleged abuse to Police on 27 May 2023.

*Rest of the document can be viewed at: (https://www.caselaw.nsw.gov.au/decision/1972e6e8f2ec610167b9ec0d)

Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.