Enrique and Enrique

In the matter of *Enrique and Enrique*, heard before District Court Judge Faulks, the dispute concerned parental responsibility and living arrangements for a child, N, born in March 2006. The mother sought sole parental responsibility and orders for the child to live with her, with specific provisions for time spent with the father.

The court was required to determine the appropriate orders regarding parental responsibility, the child's residence, and the nature and extent of the child's time with each parent. A key consideration was the child's well-being and capacity to cope with travel, particularly in light of the father's absence from court.

Judge Faulks ordered that the mother have sole parental responsibility for the child and that the child live with her. The child was to spend such time with her father as might be agreed between the parents or ordered by the Court. The judge noted the mother's willingness to facilitate contact if the father travelled to the ACT, given the child's difficulties with travel to Victoria. The father, having failed to attend court, was given leave to apply to set aside or vary the orders by a specified date, provided he filed an appropriate application supported by an affidavit explaining his absence and substantiating any proposed alternative orders. Otherwise, the matter was to be removed from the pending cases inventory.