BACHMEIER & FOSTER

In the matter of *Bachmeier & Foster*, Justice Austin of the Family Court of Australia considered parenting orders concerning a child born in May 2003. The dispute involved allegations of child abuse by the father, which the court found to be unsubstantiated due to insufficient evidence. The proceedings also addressed the mother's role as the child's primary carer and her opposition to a relationship between the child and the father, which had deteriorated significantly. The court noted the child's strong relationships with maternal family members and the high level of parental conflict.

The court was required to determine whether the presumption of equal shared parental responsibility applied and, if not, how parental responsibility should be allocated. It also had to decide with whom the child would live and the nature and extent of any time the child would spend with the father, considering the father's lack of insight into the potential negative impact of his proposed arrangements on the child. A further issue was the management of the child's relationship with the father in light of the allegations and the existing Apprehended Violence Order.

Justice Austin found that the presumption of equal shared parental responsibility was rebutted. The court reasoned that the child's allegations of sexual abuse by the father were unreliable and unsubstantiated, and that the father did not pose an unacceptable risk of sexual abuse. However, the court also found that the father lacked insight into how his proposed parenting arrangements would negatively affect the child, and that the child's relationship with the father had deteriorated. Consequently, the court allocated sole parental responsibility to the mother, ordered that the child live with the mother, and stipulated that the child would spend infrequent, supervised time with the father three times annually. The court also made detailed orders regarding communication between the child and father, and imposed restraints on denigration and the use of surnames. These orders were noted to prevail over any inconsistency with the existing Apprehended Violence Order.