CALLUM & LECHIARA

This matter concerned an application by the father for unsupervised time with the parties' five-year-old child, which the mother opposed. The parties had agreed to equal shared parental responsibility and that the child would live with the mother. Allegations of family violence were present, and there was evidence suggesting the mother's mental health had deteriorated following previous unsupervised time between the father and the child. The court was required to determine the interim parenting arrangements for the child, considering the child's best interests.

The court was required to determine the appropriate interim parenting orders, specifically whether the father should have unsupervised time with the child, given the allegations of family violence and the impact on the mother's mental health. The court also had to consider the child's best interests, which included ensuring the primary parent was functioning at their highest capacity.

Johnston J found that it was in the child's best interests to have supervised time with the father. The court reasoned that the mother, as the primary caregiver, needed to be functioning at her best, and past unsupervised time had negatively impacted her mental health. Consequently, interim orders were made discharging previous orders, confirming equal shared parental responsibility and the child living with the mother. The father was granted supervised time with the child on alternate Saturdays, with supervision to be provided by an approved service or the paternal grandmother at the father's expense. The father was also subject to an injunction restraining him from contacting, approaching, or attending near the mother, and from contacting the child except as permitted by the orders.