Hartley and Pether

In the matter of *Hartley and Pether*, heard before Cronin J, the applicants sought orders concerning a child, R, born in May 2006. The precise nature of the dispute is not fully detailed, but it involved applications for parental responsibility, living arrangements for the child, and ultimately, adoption.

The court was required to determine several key issues. These included whether to grant the applicants leave to proceed on an undefended basis, how to allocate parental responsibility for the child R, where the child should live, and whether to grant leave to commence proceedings for adoption by one of the applicants, Mr Hartley.

Cronin J reasoned that it was in the best interests of the child R to grant the applicants leave to proceed on an undefended basis. The court further ordered that Mr and Mrs Hartley have equal shared parental responsibility for the child, and that the child live with the applicants. Crucially, the court granted leave pursuant to s 60G(1) of the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth) to commence proceedings for adoption by Mr Hartley, having determined this course of action to be in the child's best interests.

Consequently, the court made orders granting leave to proceed undefended, establishing equal shared parental responsibility and the child's residence with the applicants, and granting leave for adoption proceedings. All other proceedings were dismissed and removed from the court's list.