The Child Protection practice group specialises in child protection law in NSW and Commonwealth jurisdictions. We advise NSW Government in relation to child protection law, including:
We effectively manage litigation on behalf of client in the Children's Court, District Court and Supreme Court of NSW, the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal, and the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia.
Key areas of expertise: protective law for children and young persons; adoptions; family law; child law; child protection; secure care.
Significant matters
- Acting on behalf of a local health district in Re YL [2025] NSWSC 75, relating to urgent parens patriae applicants seeking orders for urgent medical treatment. The matter involved a 7-year-old (YL) with a brain tumour requiring urgent surgical treatment. YL and his family are Jehovah’s Witnesses and did not consent to the use of blood products during YL’s treatment. We made an urgent application to the Supreme Court seeking authorisation for the use of blood products. An order was made authorising the use of blood products, and YL was operated on the following day
- Acting in Shapkin v Secretary, Department of Communities and Justice [2025] NSWCA 87, which clarified the test regarding the joinder of parties in proceedings under the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998, which had been unsettled since 2022. The decision provides useful guidance on the factors that should be considered in resolving a joinder application, to facilitate the Act’s primary objective of making orders in the best interests of the child or young person.
- Acting for the Secretary in Shapkin v Secretary, Department of Communities and Justice [2025] NSWCA 71, in which the Court established an exception to the general limitation in Supreme Court proceedings on the intervention of an independent children's representative, where their appearance advanced the fair and efficient administration of justice.
- Acting in DN v Secretary, Department of Communities and Justice [2023] NSWCA 321, which considered the jurisdiction of the Children’s Court of NSW in respect of children who, at the time orders under the Children and Young Person (Care and Protection) Act 1998 (Care Act) are made, are neither present nor ordinarily living in NSW. The court’s decision was the catalyst for legislative amendment expanding the application of the Care Act to children and young persons who have a ‘sufficient connection' to New South Wales.
- Joining the Supreme Court of NSW and the Department of Communities and Justice in a joint initiative to deliver a series of conferences on adoption processes and outcomes in NSW, featuring judges, academics and key NSW Government stakeholders.
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