ALEXIE & THANOU

This matter concerned parenting orders proceedings in the Family Court of Australia between Ms Alexie (the applicant mother) and Mr Thanou (the respondent father). The dispute involved the mother's application to relocate their two daughters, aged 15 and 17, to the United Kingdom. The children themselves expressed a strong desire to relocate with their mother. The father did not appear at the hearing.

The court was required to determine whether to discharge existing parenting orders, whether the mother should have sole parental responsibility for the children, whether the children should live with the mother, and whether the mother should be permitted to relocate the children to the United Kingdom. The court also considered whether the father's signature would be required for travel documents and the terms of communication between the children and the father post-relocation.

The court's reasoning heavily emphasised the best interests of the children, as mandated by the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth). Significant weight was given to the articulate and consistent views of the two teenage daughters, who clearly wished to relocate to the UK. The court noted the father's historical lack of consistent involvement, his alleged drug abuse, and the breakdown of his relationship with the children, particularly following the children's own expressed wishes to cease contact in 2014. The court found that the parents' inability to communicate and cooperate regarding major long-term decisions meant that shared parental responsibility was not in the children's best interests. The court also considered the mother's improved employment prospects in the UK and the children's established social connections and schooling there.

The court ordered the discharge of all existing parenting orders. The mother was granted sole parental responsibility for the children and permitted to relocate them to live with her in the United Kingdom. The father's signature was explicitly deemed unnecessary for the children's passports, visas, and other travel documents. The children were to communicate with the father via telephone, email, and video conferencing as they chose. The court also ordered the father to pay the mother's legal costs of the proceedings, including costs for cancelled air tickets.