PARENTAL ALIENATION
The Family Law Act considers there to be two primary considerations when determining the best interests of the child:
1. The benefit of the child having a meaningful relationship with both parents; and
2. The need to protect the child from physical or psychological harm from being subjected to, or exposed to, abuse, neglect or family violence.
Parental alienation occurs when one parent behaves in a way that undermines and damages the other parent’s relationship with the child, therefore depriving the child from having a meaningful relationship with that parent. Courts have recognized that parental alienation can be very psychologically damaging to children, and in some extreme situations can pose such an unacceptable risk of harm as to justify an order for sole parental responsibility or strictly supervised time.
Examples of Parental Alienation
Parental alienation can be both direct and indirect. Direct parental alienation can include coaching a child to make certain allegations against the other parent (frequently involving abuse), or actively preventing a child from spending time with the other parent. Indirect parental alienation can include expressing negative emotions whenever the other parent is mentioned.
Some signs of parental alienation include:
1. The alienating parent may divulge unnecessary relational details to the child, such as telling the child extensive details about the other party’s infidelity, or using the child as a ‘therapist’ or for emotional support.
2. The alienating parent may prevent the child from seeing or talking to the other parent, such as by telling the child the other parent is ‘busy’ or ‘not interested’ in talking to them.
3. The alienating parent may plan tempting activities during the other parent’s scheduled time. For example, they might deliberately organize sleepovers during the other parent’s time. If the other parent protests against the sleepover, the child may view the other parent as preventing them from engaging in fun social activities and react negatively. If the other parent allows the sleepover, they lose valuable quality time with the child.
4. The alienating parent may prevent the other parent from accessing medical records, report cards, and other information the child.
5. The alienating parent may frequently interrogate the child about the other parent’s behaviour and personal life, oftentimes making negative or derogatory comments while doing so.
6. The alienating parent may actively compare the other parent to a new partner, such as saying ‘isn’t step-dad better at this than dad?’
7. Hiding gifts and financial support from the other parent to the child, or pretending that all gifts and financial support originate from the alienating parent.
Consequences of Parental Alienation
Of course, there is a difficult line to straddle with such situations. If the other parent is actually being abusive or otherwise behaving in a way that causes the child to view them negatively, then it is unjust to fault a parent for attempting to protect their child from being exposed to the abuse. An abusive parent may attempt to spin any allegations made against them as being a form of parental alienation.
In the case of Lankester v Cribb [2018], the mother alleged that the father had sexually abused their nine-year-old daughter. Prior to the final orders, the mother was the primary carer of the child.
However, medical examinations of the child and an assessment undertaken by the Department concluded no evidence of sexual abuse. Evidence was produced demonstrating that the mother had frequently questioned the child about sexual abuse. The family consultant (a court appointed expert) expressed that in their opinion, the mother’s allegations were unfounded and that continued exposure to the mother’s behaviour would cause the child continuing distress and confusion about her father, which would impact negatively on the child’s emotional and social development.
As a result, the court ordered that the child’s primary residence should be changed so that she lived with the father. The mother’s time with the child was suspended for six months to allow the father to rebuild his relationship with his child, and the mother’s time was to resume in a careful staged reintroduction.
Therefore, when alleging parental alienation or family violence, it is important that a person behaves introspectively and examine their own behaviour. If there has been parental alienation, it may be important to seek interim orders and expert reports to preserve your relationship with your child.
