Case History

In this matter Greg Walsh acted for the mother who had received information and documents from the father in financial proceedings in the Family Court. She had sent that information and those documents to the Child Support Registrar with a departure application. It would agree that the information in those documents attracted the operation of a Harman obligation, being an obligation to prevent the use of information by a third party who is aware of its provenance. The issue that arose was whether the Registrar had breached the Harman obligation and also whether the mother had breached that obligation. It was contended by the father that the Registrar had aided and abetted the mother in breaching the Harman obligation. It was argued on behalf of the mother and the Registrar that the Harman obligation must yield to a statutory provision, namely provisions of the Child Support (Assessment) Act (CSAA) involving the nature of disclosure in the departure application to the Registrar. The mother and the Registrar relied upon extensive case law in respect of these issues in the hearing before Justice Watts. His Honour held that neither the Registrar nor the mother were in breach of the Harman obligation and

In this matter, Greg Walsh acted for the applicant, Ms Yeats, the wife of Mr Yeats, who was in receipt of a benefit from the Department of Social Security. The wife was removed from the Wiley Park Hotel, which she had managed for some years, on 17.07.2006. She was removed in the early hours of the morning when a large number of police from Campsie Police Station arrived for the purposes of executing a search warrant. The wife, who had met her husband in 1989, married him in April 1992. She had no assets and her husband had significant assets including the Wiley Park Hotel, Guildford Hotel and the Nortons on Norton Hotel. The husband’s assets exceeded $15 million. The wife was physically escorted by police to a section of the Hotel where the husband’s solicitor Mr Stephen Alexander directed that she forthwith remove herself from the Hotel or otherwise she would be charged. He didn’t indicate what she would be charged with. The wife had no choice whatsoever which was extraordinary situation and she was forced from the hotel and onto the street without her clothing or personal effects including her beloved three dogs. The wife also instituted proceedings

Represented the successful appellant in an appeal to the Family Court of Australia arising from a property hearing before Rose J.

In this matter Greg Walsh represented a father, mother and grandmother in respect of care proceedings that was heard over a period of 107 days. The hearing dealt with complex issues arising from allegations based upon the complaint of one of W’s children who suffered from Repressed Memory Syndrome.

In this matter, Greg Walsh represented the successful defendant arising from an appeal from a decision of a Magistrate to award costs to the defendants arising from care proceedings pursuant to the Child Welfare Act 1939. Newman J held that where proceeding in their conduct, with the Child Welfare Act 1939, are both misconceived and mischievous of latter element entitles the Court to use its inherent jurisdiction to award costs and an appropriate remedy to counteract the mischief.