BIDWELL & BIDWELL

This matter concerned parenting orders sought by the applicant father and respondent mother regarding their two children, A and M. The dispute involved the allocation of parental responsibility, living arrangements, and time spent with each parent.

The court was required to determine the terms of parenting orders, specifically addressing issues of equal shared parental responsibility, the children's primary residence, and the specific arrangements for the children to spend time with each parent. This included detailed provisions for school terms, school holidays, and special days such as Mother's Day and Father's Day, as well as communication, medical information, and international travel.

Rees J made orders establishing equal shared parental responsibility for the children. The children were ordered to live with the mother, with detailed provisions outlining the time they were to spend with the father during school terms, including a phased approach to the younger child M's time with the father. Specific arrangements were also made for school holidays, with a gradual increase in the time M would spend with the father to align with A's schedule. Further orders addressed communication between parents and children, the exchange of medical and personal information, restrictions on international travel, and injunctions preventing the use of physical force for discipline and the denigration of either parent to the children. The court also noted the parties' past reliance on vacation care and grandparents, and their intention to continue this practice.