Father loses bitter legal battle with his ex-partner to stop their child having a hyphenated combination of his parents' surnames
- Court filings state the couple divorced after the father assaulted the mother
- The parents lost custody of the child and was given to an aunt, court filings state
- The father argued that there was a stigma surrounding the mother's surname
- The mother wanted a hyphenated surname to link the child to her other children
- The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal ruled in favour of the mother
A Victorian father has lost a legal battle to prevent his child from having a hyphenated combination of his parents' surnames, with authorities ruling in favour of double-barrelled last names.
The child was born in June 2015, but the parents' inability to agree on the surname resulted in the Victorian Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages last year assigning a surname using both parents' surnames hyphenated in alphabetical order, with the mother's first and father's second.
The father took the case to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, which last week upheld the original decision and found the policy of using both names in alphabetical order 'reasonable and appropriate.'
The child was born on 16 June 2015, but the parents' inability to agree on the surname resulted in the Victorian Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages (pictured) last year assigning a surname using both parents' surnames hyphenated in alphabetical order, with the mother's first and father's second
VCAT senior member Anna Dea said the registry had made a decision in line with policy which seeks to recognise and maintain family connections.
The mother said she wanted this child to have a hyphenated surname to link them with the rest of the family.
She also said a hyphenated surname would avoid perceptions of bias towards any parent given neither parent has custody of the child.
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The father said he and the mother had agreed the child would have the father's surname and use the mother's surname as a second name.
In upholding the registry's decision, Ms Dea said it was the best interests of the child to have both surnames to recognise the child's connections to their half-siblings.
'In circumstances where at present both parents have limited contact with the child, having one name as a second name and the other as a surname would seem to preference one parent over the child without any proper basis to do so.'
The father took the case to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (pictured), where he argued that their was a stigma surrounding the mother's surname. The mother said the hyphenated surname would avoid perceptions of bias towards any parent given neither parent has custody of the child
VCAT court filings state that the mother and father already had other children with different partners at the time of the child's birth, but the mother's children had been removed from her care.
The father assaulted the mother when the child was 18 months old, according to the court filings.
The pair then split and the child was removed from their care by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).
The court filings stated that the father pleaded guilty to the charge of recklessly causing injury and he was sentenced to a community corrections order.
The child is now in the care of the mother's aunt who is also caring for her other two children, according to the court filings.
The court upheld the original decision and found the policy of using both names in alphabetical order 'reasonable and appropriate
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