DUNST & DUNST

This case concerned parenting orders for five children, Y, A, L, N, and B Dunst. The mother and the children were in hiding due to the father posing an unacceptable risk of physical and psychological harm to them, as well as to the mother, against whom an apprehended violence order was in place. The court was required to determine the children's living arrangements and parental responsibility, and to address two interlocutory applications made by the father.

The primary legal issues before the court were whether the presumption of equal shared parental responsibility applied, given the father's commission of family violence, and how to best ensure the children's safety and well-being in light of the risks posed by the father. The court also had to consider the father's applications for a supplementary expert report and to adduce adversarial expert evidence.

Austin J found that the presumption of equal shared parental responsibility did not apply due to the father's family violence. The court reasoned that the father posed an unacceptable risk of harm to the children and that there was no safe alternative but to eliminate all personal contact between the father and the children, preserving only a line of communication. Consequently, the court ordered that the children live with the mother and that she have sole parental responsibility. The father was restrained from approaching the mother or the children's residences and schools, and was prohibited from obtaining information that could reveal their locality. Communication was to be limited to the father sending letters, cards, and gifts, and the mother facilitating the children's written communication to the father. The father's interlocutory applications were dismissed.