Betts and Bidwell

In the matter of Betts and Bidwell, Stevenson J determined issues concerning the parental responsibility and welfare of a child, X. The dispute involved the mother and father of X, with the court making orders regarding the child's psychological treatment and the father's potential involvement in documenting his life story for X.

The court was required to determine who should have sole parental responsibility for X, particularly in relation to engaging a child psychologist and facilitating psychological treatment. Further issues included the extent of the father's involvement in this process, how information about the child's treatment would be managed, and the conditions under which the father might prepare a documented life story for X. The court also considered the role of the Independent Children's Lawyer in overseeing these arrangements.

Stevenson J ordered that the mother have sole parental responsibility for X, including the engagement of a child psychologist and the implementation of recommended treatment. The father was given the option to prepare a documented life story, the presentation of which to X would be at the discretion of the psychologist. The Independent Children's Lawyer was tasked with managing communication between the parties and the psychologist, ensuring the father's address was known, and facilitating the potential transfer of the life story to the psychologist, while maintaining a degree of confidentiality regarding the psychologist's identity from the father. The court explicitly noted that the psychologist would not be bound to present the life story to X.