Fleet & Fleet

In *Fleet & Fleet*, the applicant mother sought interim parenting orders concerning the parties' two youngest children, proposing no time or communication with the respondent father and restraints on his conduct. The father proposed supervised time with the children. The dispute arose in the context of pending criminal charges against the father relating to the parties' relationship, and allegations of sexual abuse by the father made by one of the subject children. The father had a prior conviction for actual bodily harm against another of the parties' children.

The court was required to determine whether, at this interim stage, it was in the best interests of the two youngest children to have no time or communication with their father, and to impose restraints on his conduct. The court also considered the father's proposal for supervised time and the impact of the pending criminal proceedings and allegations on the children's welfare.

Cleary J accepted the submissions of the Independent Children's Lawyer and the mother that there was sufficient information to justify an interim order for no time or communication with the father. The court reasoned that during the period leading up to and during the trial, tensions were likely to escalate, necessitating the protection of the children. The mother's potential role as a witness in the trial made it unreasonable to expect her to facilitate supervised time, and the court did not consider supervised time to be in the children's best interests. The court noted a power imbalance in the parties' relationship and, balancing the father's evidence of his children's enjoyment of his company against the need for caution at this interim stage, concluded that the evidence demanded a cautious approach.

Accordingly, the court discharged all prior parenting orders and ordered that pending further order, the children were to spend no time and have no communication with the father. The father was also restrained from approaching or attending at locations frequented by the children and from attempting to locate the residences of the mother and children, and the children's school.