Groth v Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages [2021] NSWCATAD 271

Groth v Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages [2021] NSWCATAD 271

The Tribunal accepted Debbie Weaver's evidence that she had not had sexual intercourse with anyone other than Dennis John Finlay during the 12 months before Kristy's birth, found that the s 10 presumption of parentage applied and was not rebutted, and considered the most reliable information about the registrable event to be that Dennis was Kristy's father. It therefore held that the Registrar was permitted to enter the father's particulars and that the correct and preferable decision was to correct the Register accordingly.

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
17 September 2021
Procedural Posture
Administrative Review Under S 56 of the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1995 (nsw) / Final Decision on Review of the Registrar's Refusal to Amend the Applicant's Birth Record
Outcome
Decision under review set aside; Registrar ordered to add Dennis John Finlay as the Applicant's father in the birth entry.
Legal Topics
['correction of Birth Register' "registration of Father's Particulars" 'presumption of Parentage' 'most Reliable Information Available to the Registrar' 'correct and Preferable Decision']
['administrative Law' 'births, Deaths and Marriages Registration' 'parentage'] ['correction of Birth Register' "registration of Father's Particulars" 'presumption of Parentage' 'most Reliable Information Available to the Registrar' 'correct and Preferable Decision']

Case Brief

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Procedural Posture

Administrative Review Under S 56 of the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1995 (nsw) / Final Decision on Review of the Registrar's Refusal to Amend the Applicant's Birth Record

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ["Whether the information before the Tribunal relating to the claim that Dennis John Finlay was the Applicant's father was the most reliable information about that question." "Whether the Register should be corrected to record Dennis John Finlay as the Applicant's father."]

Ratio Decidendi

The Tribunal accepted Debbie Weaver's evidence that she had not had sexual intercourse with anyone other than Dennis John Finlay during the 12 months before Kristy's birth, found that the s 10 presumption of parentage applied and was not rebutted, and considered the most reliable information about the registrable event to be that Dennis was Kristy's father. It therefore held that the Registrar was permitted to enter the father's particulars and that the correct and preferable decision was to correct the Register accordingly.

Court Disposition

Decision under review set aside; Registrar ordered to add Dennis John Finlay as the Applicant's father in the birth entry.

Orders

  • ['Set aside the decision under review.' "Order the Respondent to make an addition to the particulars contained in the entry relating to the birth of the Applicant, so as to record the Applicant's father as Dennis John Finlay."]