The Family Law Act 1975 (s68B(1)) gives the Family Court power to grant injunctions “as it considers appropriate for the welfare of the child”. It is under this section that a parent of a child can seek Family Court orders restraining the name change of a child or compelling its reversal.

The cases identify a number of factors which a court must consider, including:

¨ the welfare of the child as being paramount;

• the short and long-term effects of a change;
• any embarrassment likely to be experienced by the child if its name is different from that of the parent with whom it lives;
• any confusion of identity;
• the contact that the father has had and is likely to have with the child;
• the father’s wishes; and
• the fact that mere convenience by itself is not a sufficient reason.

In F v H 27 Fam LR 615 the Full Court of the Family Court confirmed that the welfare of the child was the paramount consideration. In that case 3-year-old twins had been registered under the surname of their father at the time of their birth but did not have contact with him for the first six months and had irregular contact with him for the following 12 months. The trial judge based his decision to allow the change of surname to that of the mother on the fact that the children were very young, they had lived continuously with their mother and used her surname for a long period of time, that the father had attempted to gain a nil assessment for child support and had made no voluntary payments of child support and that the children’s future relationship with the father would not be impeded by the use of the mother’s surname.