QLD Subpoena Childcare Centre for Information?

[Adam2100]

Hello,
I would like to Subpoena my child's Childcare in order to get the following information for last 3 years:

All records of the child ... (d.o.b ....) from 2012 to present day including but not limited to:

1. Enrolment form
2. Attendance history (hours included)
3. Incident reports history
4. Medication schedules history
5. Sign in / Sign out register history

The childcare told me that they can only provide information for the last 3 to 6 months, because the older information are archived somewhere else and it will take more than 6 months to provide the above information. However, my family court hearing is in December.

Do I ask for the right information and is it possible that can anything happen and the childcare try to cover it up?

Thank you in advance.

 

[AllForHer]

A subpoena isn't just you requesting information. You're the child's parent, you can do that any old time. A subpoena is a direction of the court for an entity to produce documentation. Failing to oblige a subpoena can lead to an action in contempt of court, so if the childcare is subpoena'd for three years of particular information, they will have to produce three years of that particular information or potentially be held liable.

In relation to your concern about covering something up, the best way I can think to answer this is that a subpoena can be contested by the entity for many reasons, including irrelevance or a suspected 'fishing expedition', which is where the subpoena looks a lot like an attempt to hunt for evidence, rather than pursuit of specific evidence they already know exists. We can't tell you what information you should be asking for because it depends on what you're trying to prove with it.

If you feel the childcare has covered something up in the submission of their documents, you can bring your concerns to the court's attention, but realistically, you can't do anything else about the way they handle the subpoena, anyway.

 

[Adam2100]

Thank you very much for your response.