Ericsson and Beesley (No.3)

In *Ericsson and Beesley (No.3)*, Judge O'Sullivan of the Family Court of Australia considered applications concerning contraventions of existing parenting orders and sought to vary those orders. The proceedings involved a father and a mother, with the core dispute revolving around the mother's alleged breaches of orders made on 18 December 2014, specifically relating to school holiday and school term time arrangements for the children.

The court was required to determine whether the respondent mother had contravened specific provisions of the 18 December 2014 orders on various dates, and if so, whether she had a reasonable excuse for those contraventions. The applications before the court concerned alleged breaches on 21 December 2015, 27 November 2015, 28 December 2014, and 5 February 2016.

The court found that the mother had contravened order 8(b) on 21 December 2015 and order 4(a) on 27 November 2015 without reasonable excuse. However, it also found that she had contravened order 8(b) on 28 December 2014 and order 4(a) on 5 February 2016, but with a reasonable excuse in each instance. Consequently, the court varied the original orders pursuant to s.70NBA of the relevant legislation, clarifying the commencement of school holiday time and the method of changeover for the children. Further, the court ordered make-up time for the father under s.70NEB, providing for additional weekend time over the subsequent two months. The contravention applications filed on 21 December 2015 and 26 February 2016 were otherwise dismissed.