But It Is Only a Little Risk…

When determining a child's best interests, safety remains a primary factor. The determination of safety is arguably the process of examining and weighing different factors to identify the child's best interests, with the understanding that safety should not be taken as having a fixed axis, content, or designated standard. The longstanding approach of M v M (1988) 166 CLR 69 reaffirmed in Isles v Nelissen [2022] FedCFamC1A 97 established that safety considerations will create circumstances of intolerable risk whereby it is “suffice to say that a conclusion of there being an unacceptable risk may be had from the cumulative consideration of factors.” Arguably, Unacceptable risk is therefore the assessment and understanding of cumulative risk, where risk assessments are based on evidence-driven conclusions derived from known facts and circumstances. Drawing from Australian Family Law's conceptualisation of unacceptable risk, this article will further explore the interrelated nature of cumulative risk in the consideration of a child's best interests.