Denver and Croft

In *Denver and Croft*, Murphy J of the Federal Circuit Court of Australia determined parenting arrangements for a child born in May 2000. The dispute concerned the specific orders to be made regarding the child's residence, time spent with each parent, and related matters, including the financial responsibility for travel and the mother's compliance with drug testing.

The court was required to determine the terms of orders concerning equal shared parental responsibility, the child's living arrangements, the allocation of time spent with each parent, and the apportionment of travel costs associated with that time. Further issues before the court included the extent of each parent's involvement in the child's schooling and extracurricular activities, the exchange of information between parents, and the conditions under which the mother would undertake drug testing.

Murphy J made orders reflecting a framework for shared parental responsibility and time, with the child to live with the mother and spend time with the father during school holidays, weekends, and specific periods in term time, subject to notice. The court also ordered that travel costs between the Gold Coast and Sydney be shared equally for some periods and borne solely by the father for others. Provisions were made for liberal telephone contact, the father's participation in the child's activities, and the mother's provision of school-related information. Crucially, the mother was ordered to undertake random urine and blood drug testing, as well as hair follicle testing, with specific conditions regarding the testing process and the laboratory's authority to release information to the Independent Children's Lawyer. The Independent Children's Lawyer was to be discharged on 31 May 2012, with liberty to relist the matter.