Bostridge and Smallwood

In the matter of *Bostridge and Smallwood*, Bennett J of the Federal Circuit Court of Australia considered a dispute between a mother and father concerning their child. The proceedings involved a contravention application by the mother, which she sought leave to withdraw. The court also addressed the referral of substantive proceedings for judicial allocation and a proposed application for an expedited hearing.

The legal issues before the court included whether to grant the mother leave to withdraw her contravention application, how to manage the pending substantive proceedings, and the terms of supervised contact between the mother and the child. The court was also required to determine the allocation of costs for contact centre assessments and supervision, and to consider an application by the mother for specific individuals to supervise contact.

The court made orders by consent of the parties. It granted the mother leave to withdraw her contravention application and discharged a previous order. The parties were ordered to attend a contact centre for an intake assessment, with costs to be shared equally. Supervised contact sessions were to occur at the contact centre, with the costs of supervision also to be shared equally. The mother's application for specific individuals to supervise contact on particular dates was refused, with provisions made for supervised contact at the centre if available. The court also made orders restraining the mother from bringing third parties to supervised visits without prior written consent and requiring vetting by an independent children's lawyer if consent was given. Provisions were included regarding responsibility for costs of abandoned supervised visits. The mother's interim application was otherwise dismissed, and a Fact Sheet detailing obligations and consequences of contravention was incorporated into the orders.