CAMARO & CAMARO

In the Family Court of Australia, Austin J considered the parenting arrangements for three children, J, M, and R. The dispute concerned the children's living arrangements, time spent with each parent, and parental responsibility, against a backdrop of family violence perpetrated by the father against the mother. The court also addressed the need for injunctions to protect the mother from the father.

The central legal issues before the court were whether the presumption of equal shared parental responsibility applied, with whom the children should live, and the nature and extent of the time the children should spend with each parent. The court was required to determine if the father's history of threatening the mother with death and physical harm, despite no findings of actual physical violence, impacted the application of the presumption of equal shared parental responsibility and necessitated specific protective orders.

Austin J determined that the presumption of equal shared parental responsibility did not apply due to the family violence perpetrated by the father against the mother. The court found that the mother had demonstrated an ability to meet the children's needs and had fostered close and meaningful relationships with them, and that the children should live with her. To facilitate the repair of the children's relationships with the father, a graduating regime for supervised time was ordered, commencing with supervision by paternal grandparents and progressing towards substantial and significant time. The court allocated sole parental responsibility to the mother, acknowledging the parents' proven inability to communicate effectively. Injunctions were also made pursuant to s 68B of the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth) to protect the mother from the father's behaviour.