BACCHIEGA & HAMILTON

In the matter of *Baccheiga & Hamilton*, Austin J of the Family Court of Australia considered the living arrangements and parental responsibility for a child, N, born in August 2008. The dispute arose in circumstances where the child lived with the father and spent time with the mother, with the mother's time with the child being conditional on her preventing contact with her current partner and his brother. Concerns were raised about the mother's alleged failure to comply with interim injunctions, the mother's partner and his brother having criminal histories, and the potential for physical abuse and family violence to the child.

The court was required to determine whether the presumption of equal shared parental responsibility applied, and if not, whether it was in the child's best interests to allocate equal shared parental responsibility. Further, the court had to consider the child's living arrangements and the terms of the child's time with each parent, specifically in light of an unacceptable risk of physical and emotional harm to the child from contact with the mother's partner or his brother. The court also had to address the mother's current living situation with her partner and her estrangement from her own family.

Austin J found that while the presumption of equal shared parental responsibility did not strictly apply, it was in the child's best interests for it to be allocated to both parents, noting their past success in negotiating long-term matters. The court ordered that the child live with the father and that the parties have equal shared parental responsibility. Specific provisions were made for the child to spend time with the mother, both before and after commencing school, with detailed arrangements for holidays and special days. Crucially, the court made orders restraining each party from causing or permitting corporal punishment, from allowing the child to be in the company of the mother's partner or his brother, and from allowing the child to be conveyed in a motor vehicle without a proper child restraint. The parties were also restrained from denigrating each other in the child's presence. The court further ordered that the parties participate in a post-separation parenting program.