BEGBIE & MAGRO

This matter concerned an application by the Mother for her 13-year-old son, [X], to live with her, and a counter-application by the Father for [X] to remain living primarily with him. The central issue before Judge Bender was the determination of [X]'s primary residence, given that the child was of a mature age and had expressed strong wishes to remain living with the Father to his counsellor, school, the family report writer, and the Department of Health and Human Services, while expressing a contrary view only to the Mother.

The court was required to determine the primary residence of [X] and the nature and extent of the time each parent would spend with the child. This involved considering the mature wishes of [X] and balancing them against the parental responsibilities and the best interests of the child. The court also had to make orders regarding shared parental responsibility, communication between parents and child, holiday arrangements, and specific provisions for the child's well-being and protection from parental conflict.

Judge Bender ordered that all previous parenting orders be discharged and that the Mother and Father have equal shared parental responsibility for [X]. Crucially, the court ordered that [X] live with the Father. The orders then detailed substantial time for [X] to spend with the Mother, including alternate weekends, mid-week time, and specific arrangements for school holidays, long summer holidays, Christmas, birthdays, Mother's Day, and Easter, with provisions for agreement or default arrangements. Further orders addressed communication, changeovers, information sharing between parents regarding the child's health and education, and attendance at school functions and sporting events. The court also mandated ongoing counselling for [X] and the seeking of specialized input regarding sexualised behaviour if recommended. Injunctions were put in place to prevent harassment, denigration of a parent, discussion of proceedings in the child's presence, physical discipline, and exposure to parental conflict. The Father was also ordered to ensure [X] was supervised when in contact with [C]. The Independent Children's Lawyer was discharged, and the matter was removed from the pending cases list.