CARTER & GEARY

In the matter of *Carter & Geary*, Austin J of the Family Court of Australia considered a dispute concerning parenting orders and property settlement. The proceedings arose after final parenting orders were made in November 2015, which stipulated that the child would live with the father and that he would have sole parental responsibility. These orders were made in the mother's absence, as she had disengaged from the litigation and indicated she would not contest the proceedings. Subsequently, the child absconded from the father's care.

The court was required to determine several legal issues. Firstly, it had to consider the father's application for a recovery order for the child. Secondly, it needed to address the mother's application for new interim orders for the child to live with her. Thirdly, the court had to decide whether the presumption of equal shared parental responsibility should apply. Finally, the mother sought to vacate the upcoming property settlement trial if her interim parenting application failed, and the court had to rule on this request.

Austin J reasoned that the current circumstances, including the child's potential to abscond, were predicted and accounted for when the final parenting orders were made in November 2015. Finding no valid reason to disturb those orders, the court granted the father's application for a recovery order, authorising law enforcement to locate and recover the child and deliver her to the father. The mother's interim application for new parenting orders was dismissed, and the court determined that the presumption of equal shared parental responsibility should not apply, with the father to continue to have exclusive parental responsibility. The court also ordered that the property settlement trial should not be vacated.