GARDINER & MORGAN

In the matter of *Gardiner & Morgan*, heard before Cleary J, the dispute concerned parenting orders for a child born in 2012. The proceedings involved applications by both the mother and the father regarding the child's living arrangements, parental responsibility, and the ability to travel internationally.

The court was required to determine several key issues, including whether to discharge existing parenting orders, who should have sole parental responsibility for the child, where the child should live, the extent of the father's time with the child, and whether the mother should be authorised to obtain a passport for the child and remove the child from Australia for overseas holidays without the father's consent.

Cleary J reasoned that the existing parenting orders were no longer in the child's best interests and ordered their discharge. The court found that it was in the child's best interests for the mother to have sole parental responsibility and for the child to live with her. Regarding the father's time with the child, the court stipulated that no time would occur unless there was a prior written agreement between the parties. Furthermore, the mother was authorised to obtain an Australian passport for the child and to remove the child from Australia for holidays with her, without requiring the father's consent.