Falzone and Falzone

In *Falzone and Falzone*, the parties were the father, MR FALZONE, and the mother, MS FALZONE, who were in dispute regarding parenting orders for their child, X. The matter came before Judge Roberts.

The court was required to determine the appropriate parenting arrangements for the child, including the allocation of parental responsibility and the child's living arrangements. This involved assessing the child's expressed wishes and considering the weight to be given to those wishes in light of the child's age and maturity.

Judge Roberts discharged previous parenting orders and made new orders establishing equal shared parental responsibility. The child was to live with the father and mother on an alternating fortnightly basis, with specific provisions for annual holidays, Mother's Day, and Father's Day. The court considered the child's expressed wishes, as reported by a Family Consultant, but ultimately gave less weight to the child's stated desire to spend only alternate weekends with her father, noting the child's young age and potential external influences. The court also considered the child's statement about wanting her "own place" and preferring her mother's home, particularly when sick, but noted this preference was made some time ago and was potentially contradicted by later evidence of the child seeking her father's assistance when injured. The court also made orders regarding communication between the child and parents, the transfer of the child between households, and a restriction on the mother attending the child's school during periods the child lived with the father. All extant applications in relation to parenting orders were dismissed.