ASHTON & FARLEY

This case concerned a dispute between a mother and father regarding the living arrangements for their child, X. The primary issue was whether X should live with each parent on a week-about basis or in a different fortnightly arrangement. The dispute arose in the context of the mother's abandoned plans to relocate with X to Adelaide and subsequently to Country M. On the final day of the trial, the mother consented to orders requiring her to return X from Adelaide to Melbourne. The court also considered the mother's history of defiance and contravention of court orders, her capacity to encourage a relationship between X and the father, and the arrangements for X's passport and international travel.

The court was required to determine the most appropriate living arrangements for X, taking into account the parents' capacities and the child's best interests. Key legal issues included assessing the mother's ability to foster X's relationship with the father, given her past conduct, and deciding on the custody of X's Australian passport. Furthermore, the court had to consider whether X should be permitted to travel to countries that are not signatories to the 1980 Hague Convention.

Williams J reasoned that a week-about shared care arrangement was in X's best interests, noting the long-standing history of the mother's blatant defiance and contravention of court orders. The court found that this history, coupled with the mother's abandonment of relocation plans and subsequent consent to return X to Melbourne, indicated that the mother's capacity to encourage and facilitate a relationship between X and the father was compromised. Consequently, the court ordered that X live with each parent on a shared care week-about basis. The court also ordered that X's Australian passport be held by the father's solicitors, to be released only with joint written authorisation. Regarding international travel, the court permitted each parent to take X on holiday outside Australia, provided the holiday was to a country that is a signatory to the 1980 Hague Convention, unless the father provided written consent otherwise. Specific notice requirements and restrictions on travel during school term time were also imposed.