Ahsan and Ahsan and Anor

This matter concerned an application by the mother and father regarding the parenting arrangements for their five children. The court was required to make interim orders concerning the children's living arrangements, communication with parents, and various other conditions aimed at ensuring the children's welfare and the parents' co-operation.

The primary legal issues before the court were the determination of equal shared parental responsibility, the specific living arrangements for the children, the nature and frequency of communication between the children and each parent when not in their care, and the imposition of various restraints and undertakings on both parents to facilitate a stable and safe environment for the children. The court also had to consider the role of the Independent Children's Lawyer and the need for ongoing therapeutic intervention for the family.

Foster J made orders establishing equal shared parental responsibility for the children. The children were to live with the mother, with specific provisions for time with the father during school terms and holidays, including alternate weekends and half of school holidays. The court also ordered that the child F be at liberty to live with the mother under similar terms. Further orders included restraints on the father attending at or near the children's school during changeovers, detailed provisions for telephone communication between children and the non-resident parent, and prohibitions on providing mobile phones to children while with the other parent. The mother was permitted to attend school functions, while both parents were restrained from consuming alcohol or illicit drugs while the children were in their care and undertook to provide drug screening upon request. Both parents were also restrained from using physical discipline, discussing proceedings with the children, or denigrating each other or family members in the children's presence. The court mandated attendance at therapy and a "Parenting after Separation" course, and specified locations for non-school changeovers. Finally, both parents were restrained from approaching within 200 metres of the other's residence unless by court order or written agreement.