Northern Territory Consolidated Acts Northern Territory Consolidated Acts(1) The Court may order a report to be prepared about the wellbeing of the child.
(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the Court may specify in the order one or more of the following:
(a) the person who must prepare the report;
(b) the matters that must be addressed in the report;
(c) the persons who must give information for the report;
(d) that the child, a parent of the child or another person be interviewed for the report.
(3) A person must not contravene the order.
Maximum penalty: 50 penalty units or imprisonment for 6 months.
(4) It is a defence to a prosecution for an offence against subsection (3) if the defendant has a reasonable excuse.
(5) A person is not civilly or criminally liable, or in breach of any professional code of conduct, for:
(a) giving information for the report; or
(b) preparing the report; or
(c) giving the report to the Court.
(6) The Court must, as soon as possible after receiving the report:
(a) take all reasonable steps to ensure each party to the proceedings is given a copy of the report; and
(b) give such other directions about the report as the Court considers appropriate.
(7) However, the Court may decide not to give a copy of the report to a party to the proceedings if the Court considers it inappropriate to do so in the circumstances.