Buckwater and Perry

In *Buckwater and Perry*, heard before Justice Cronin of the Family Court of Australia, the dispute concerned parenting orders for three children. The court was required to determine the future parental responsibility, living arrangements, and time spent with each parent for the children, D, M, and G.

The court's reasoning led to a significant alteration of previous orders. It was determined that the wife would have sole parental responsibility for all three children, with the children to live with her. The wife was also granted sole responsibility for decisions regarding the children's day-to-day care, welfare, and development. The husband was to be kept informed of significant issues concerning the children's health, education, residence, and extracurricular activities, and authorised to receive information from the children's school and medical practitioners.

Specific arrangements were made for the children to spend time with the husband, with the younger child, G, having supervised contact through a children's contact service. The arrangements for the older children, D and M, involved regular weekend and holiday time with the husband, subject to strict conditions relating to the use of the Albury/Wodonga Children's Contact Service and the husband's compliance with its directives. The orders also included provisions for communication between parents and children, restraints on discussing arrangements with the children, and prohibitions on denigrating the other parent or consuming alcohol or illicit drugs while the children are in their care. Further orders mandated counselling for the children and parenting courses for both parties, and directed the husband to contribute to the costs of the Independent Children's Lawyer.