Feld and Valenti

This matter concerned an application before Judge Newbrun in the Federal Circuit Court of Australia, involving the parents, Mr Feld and Mr Valenti, and their child, born in 2013. The dispute centred on parenting arrangements for the child, specifically regarding parental responsibility, living arrangements, and the nature and extent of contact between the father and the child.

The court was required to determine the appropriate orders for sole parental responsibility and the child's residence. Further issues included the terms under which the father could communicate with the child, the conditions for supervised contact, and the father's obligations and restrictions concerning contact. The court also had to consider the father's ability to approach or contact the child outside of the specific orders made.

Judge Newbrun ordered that the mother have sole parental responsibility for the child and that the child live with the mother. The father was permitted to send one birthday card per year to the child, subject to strict conditions including no denigration of the mother, no reference to the mother, no adult issues, no discussion of court proceedings, and no inappropriate comments. The mother was to facilitate the child's correspondence to the father. Supervised contact was to commence when the child turned eight, with the father responsible for all associated costs. The father was also restrained from contacting or approaching the child except as permitted by the orders, and from attending within 100 metres of the child's residence, place of employment, or educational institution.