COTTRELL & GREYSON

The case of *Cottrell & Greyson* concerned a dispute between parents regarding the living arrangements and parental responsibility for their child. The court was required to determine the best interests of the child, considering allegations of family violence, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect in both households. The court also had to consider the presumption of equal shared parental responsibility and whether it applied in this instance.

Austin J found that while both parties had perpetrated family violence, the presumption of equal shared parental responsibility did not apply. The court determined that the child was at risk of harm through exposure to family violence in the father's household, but the evidence did not support findings of risk of sexual abuse by a half-sibling in the mother's household, nor physical abuse or neglect in either household. The court considered the comparative improvement in each parent's capacity and concluded that the preponderance of evidence favoured the mother as the residential parent.

Consequently, the court ordered that the child live with the mother and that the mother have sole parental responsibility. The father was to spend time with the child, with a regime designed to gradually increase to substantial and significant time once the child commenced school. The orders also included specific provisions regarding holiday arrangements, communication between parents, and prohibitions against corporal punishment and denigration of the other parent.