Chadwick and Lacy

This matter concerned an application before Hogan J concerning the child J Chadwick, born in 2009. The dispute involved the parents' arrangements for their child, including living arrangements, parental responsibility, communication, and the father's mental health and treatment. The parties sought consent orders to resolve these issues.

The court was required to determine a range of issues pertaining to the child's welfare and the parents' responsibilities. These included the child's surname, where the child would live, the allocation of parental responsibility for long-term decisions, and the exchange of information between the parents regarding the child's health and education. The court also had to address the father's engagement with psychiatric treatment, including medication, and the arrangements for supervised time between the father and the child. Furthermore, the court needed to establish protocols for overseas travel and communication between the parents and the child.

The court made orders by consent, reflecting an agreement between the parties. The child's surname was ordered to be changed to Lacy-Chadwick. The child was to live with the mother, who was granted sole parental responsibility for long-term decisions concerning the child's health, education, and religion, with an obligation to inform the father of any such decisions. The orders detailed specific communication protocols, including the exchange of email addresses, notification of serious medical conditions, and the release of school reports to the father at his expense. Crucially, the father was ordered to engage in psychiatric treatment, including attending appointments, taking prescribed medication, and providing reports to the mother. Supervised time between the father and child was to commence at a contact centre, with specific conditions and timelines, and was subject to suspension in certain circumstances related to the father's mental health.

The court also ordered that the father would be responsible for the costs of family therapy, and that specific provisions regarding the father's communication with the child, including telephone contact and the suspension of such contact in the event of hospitalisation for mental health reasons, were to be adhered to. The orders included a fact sheet detailing the obligations and consequences of contravention, and any further applications were to be listed before Hogan J.