Branson and Aske and Anor

In the matter of *Branson and Aske and Anor*, Justice Austin of the Family Court of Australia considered parenting orders concerning a child born in March 2002. The dispute involved allegations of family violence between the parents, the Applicant father and the First Respondent mother, who sought to resolve their parenting arrangements through consent orders.

The court was required to determine the terms of parenting orders that would best serve the child's interests, given the parties' consent and the allegations of family violence. Specifically, the court needed to approve and formalise the agreed arrangements for the child's living arrangements, time spent with each parent, communication, and other related matters, while also addressing the implications of the family violence allegations.

Justice Austin's reasoning was primarily based on the consent of the parties and the Independent Children's Lawyer. The court applied the principles of the *Family Law Act* by making orders that reflected the parties' agreement, as detailed in the "Draft Minutes of Consent Orders." These orders included equal shared parental responsibility, the child living with the mother, specific arrangements for the child to spend time and communicate with the father, and prohibitions on alcohol and illicit substance consumption by the parents when caring for the child. The court also included provisions for the parties to keep each other informed of contact details and for the mother to obey medical directions.

The court discharged all preceding parenting orders relating to the child and dismissed all outstanding applications. The Independent Children's Lawyer was discharged upon the expiry of the appeal period. The court also noted that while allegations of family violence were made, the parties submitted that the consent orders satisfactorily addressed these incidents, an agreement echoed by the Independent Children's Lawyer. The court further ordered that particulars of the obligations and consequences of contravention of these orders, along with details of assistance available, be set out in an attached Fact Sheet, thereby incorporating them into the orders.