CRABMAN & CRABMAN

The Federal Circuit Court of Australia considered an application by the father against the mother concerning contraventions of existing parenting orders. The dispute centred on the mother's alleged failure to facilitate time between the children and the father on numerous occasions, as well as her relocation of the children without informing the father of their new address and failing to provide the father with details of the children's medical practitioners. The court was required to determine whether these actions constituted contraventions of the orders made by Judge Coates on 4 November 2015, and if so, whether there was a reasonable excuse for these contraventions.

The court found that the mother had contravened the parenting orders in multiple respects, including failing to facilitate time between the children and the father on numerous specified dates, relocating the children without informing the father of their new address, and failing to provide the father with the names and addresses of the children's medical practitioners. The court also found that one specific contravention, the failure to facilitate time on 24 February 2017, was without reasonable excuse.

In response to the contraventions, the court ordered that the children would spend make-up time with the father during the June/July 2019 school holidays and for four weeks of the 2019/2020 Christmas school holidays, with the mother responsible for delivery and collection. On a final basis, all previous parenting orders were discharged. The children were ordered to live with the mother, and to spend time and communicate with the father as agreed, or failing agreement, on a specified schedule including one weekend every four weeks, all of the Easter school holidays, half of the June/July school holidays from 2020, all of the September school holidays, and half of the Christmas school holidays from 2021. The court also made detailed orders regarding the calculation of school holiday periods, parental responsibility, exchange of information, telephone communication, travel, school and extra-curricular activities, and non-denigration.