BREADEN & WRUCK

In the matter of *Breaden & Wruck*, Judge Terry of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia considered parenting orders concerning two children, X and Y. The dispute involved the arrangements for the children's living situation, parental responsibility, and contact with their father.

The court was required to determine the best interests of the children, applying the primary considerations outlined in the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth). These considerations included the benefit of a meaningful relationship with each parent and the need to protect the children from harm, including abuse, neglect, or family violence. The court also had to consider additional factors, such as the children's relationships with their parents and other significant persons, the occurrence of family violence, parental capacity, and the potential impact of any changes to the children's circumstances.

Judge Terry's reasoning focused on the factors enumerated in section 60CC(3) of the *Family Law Act 1975*. The court noted that the children were too young to express a view on parenting arrangements at the time of the family report. While the children had lived with their mother since birth and were closely attached to her, the family report suggested a potential for anxious attachment in X, which could lead to psychological problems if the mother experienced anxiety due to compliance with orders for the children to spend time with the father. Despite this, the court observed that the children appeared happy and reacted warmly to the father during supervised contact, and the father was consistently appropriate in his interactions. The mother acknowledged that the children looked forward to and enjoyed their supervised time with the father.

The court ordered that all previous parenting orders be discharged. The children were to live with the mother, who was granted sole parental responsibility. Crucially, the children were to spend no time with and have no communication with the father. Furthermore, pursuant to section 68B of the *Family Law Act 1975*, an injunction was granted restraining the father from removing the children from the mother's care or from any school, day care, out-of-school hours service, extra-curricular activity, or the care of any person designated by the mother.