Garnet and Karsten

In the matter of *Garnet and Karsten*, Judge Harman of the Federal Circuit Court of Australia considered a dispute between a mother and father concerning the parenting arrangements for their two children. The proceedings involved applications relating to the children's living arrangements, time spent with each parent, and the mother's proposed relocation with the children to New South Wales.

The court was required to determine the appropriate orders for equal shared parental responsibility, the primary residence of the children, and whether to permit the mother to relocate with the children to a specified region in New South Wales. Further issues included the allocation of responsibility for the children's schooling and the specific arrangements for the children's time with the father during school holidays.

Judge Harman made orders for equal shared parental responsibility for the children, save for decisions regarding their schooling. The children were ordered to live with the mother, with provisions for them to live with the father at other times. Crucially, the court permitted the mother to relocate with the children to a designated region in New South Wales from the second half of the first term NSW school holidays in 2015. The mother was granted sole responsibility for enrolling the children in a school within the new region. The father was to have the children for the first half of the New South Wales school holidays in 2015, irrespective of any other orders.