On April 25, 2004, Jayson Dalton took the lives of his own children, Jesse (18 months old) and Patrick (3 months old). He then took his own life as well.
The fact is that these children were with their dangerous father because of a court order.
Today we call on the judge that made that order to resign his position in the Family Court at Brisbane because despite Chief Justice' Bryant's contention that "There was nothing to indicate this would happen," there were very serious allegations presented to the judge when he granted interim residence to the father.
For too long, the indicators of danger to children have been ignored by the Family Court, who instead continue to give more weight to the "contact" principle (60B) than to the need to protect the child to an unacceptable risk of family violence (68K).
In this case this resulted in the death of these two precious children because the court ignored the evidence of the violence to the mother.
At the hearing before this judge, Julie Wherrit, Dionne Dalton's mother and grandmother to these two children told the judge about the violence by the father to the mother.
He said, "You've told me that he has been violent to his wife, but you haven't really told me...He's been a hard father, OK, but the really hasn't been violent to his children" And he the stated, "They stay with him until she is well." Dionne Dalton had ended up in hospital in a psychiatric ward as a direct result of the violence and abuse perpetrated on her by her husband. However, the Family Court continues to also rely on the view that women are unstable, emotional and erratic when their presentation involves the normal reaction to domestic violence.
In October 1998, At the 2nd National Conference for Children, Young People and Domestic Violence held in Brisbane, Justice Jordan himself presented a paper entitled, "Domestic Violence and the Family Court: a protective response for the child at risk." Six years later he ignored the very obvious indicators that these children were at risk and in effect sent them to their deaths on a court order. Just one year previously, the research report, "Negotiating Child Residence and Contact Arrangements Against a Background of Domestic Violence, 1 June 2003, points out, The Relationship Between Spousal Abuse and Child Abuse "Our study adds to the growing body of research suggesting that spousal abuse and child abuse are inter-related phenomena." In fact, in 1994 Busch and Robertson had done a significant study into the deaths of the Bristol children in New Zealand, also at the hands of their violent father and on a court order. New Zealand responded with the introduction of the Guardianship Act. The Australian government has responded by continuing to reform the family law act to the pressure of the father's rights campaigners. These fathers' rights campaigners continue to defend these murders and claim that Domestic Violence Protection orders are mostly used by women as tools for court cases. Dionne Dalton had a protection order taken out by the police and the father had already been breached twice. It was after he was kept in jail overnight that the police sought to put the mother and children in a refuge.
All this evidence was ignored by Justice Jordan, who instead stated to the grandmother that, "People can get vindictive in these situations and I'm not saying you are being vindictive..."We argue that the articulation of the first part of this comment betrays Justice Jordan's underlying preconception that allegations of violence are not genuine and come from a "vindictive" basis.
In light of these matters, Justice Jordan should resign from the family court because:
1. He knew the indicators of the risks, having presented these issues at a conference and needing to research the subject to speak on such matters;
2. He ignored all the obvious indicators of danger to the children when this case came before him;
3. He demonstrated by his referral to "vindictiveness" in allegations an underlying predisposition.
It is also at this time that we wish to also point out that the day that this judge ordered these two babies to their deaths, Evelyn Dalton, the step mother of Jayson Dalton, sat down and faxed this crisis to Today Tonight, 60 Minutes and A Current Affair. They also ignored the danger to these children, and colluded in their deaths by dispensing with the story. The media continue to disregard the continuing child protection crisis on the Family Court, instead widely disseminating the position of the father's rights campaigners, an agenda that continues to place at risk children in harm's way.
As pointed out by Law reform by Frozen Chook. "There is considerable theoretical research on how the voices of the powerful drown out the voices of the powerless: in the context of divorce law reform, men have the ears of the politicians, the women and children simply do not." p. 9.
It is pertinent to note that one of those organisations, MENDS, was directly involved with Jayson Dalton. This organisation has links to the fathers' rights campaigners and these campaigners continue to blame mothers for the problems encounters after separation. No mention is ever referred to in regards to the violence that men commit on their families.
The research actually points out that these father's rights advocates do not represent the majority of separated men and in fact, (Flood Backlash, Angry Men's Movements,2003, p.264) "One response to such shifts is the emergence of fathers' rights groups which have been instrumental in changing the practice and perception of family law. Yet the agendas of fathers' rights groups are sometimes misinformed and can be harmful to both women and men." (Flood, Fatherhood and Fatherlessness, 2003, Introduction p.2) We contend that this agenda has been instrumental in the current mindset in the family court, the media, the government and many professionals dealing with issues of children domestic violence and child protection. However, given the gravity and the education that judges are required to fulfill in their important role as child protectors, there is no excuse for the decision that led to the deaths of Jesse and Patrick Dalton.
As head of the Family Court of Australia, we also hold Justice Diana Bryant responsible for this situation, as she pointed out that there were no indicators that this would happen.
As chief justice it is inexcusable to declare that there were no indicators and unconscionable that no apology offered or action taken.
We therefore call on the Governor General, the Australian Government and the people of Australia to require the resignation of The Hon Brian Edward JORDAN.