Heinz and Western & Anor

In the matter of Heinz and Western & Anor, Bell J of the Family Court of Australia made orders concerning the living arrangements and parental responsibility for a child, B. The dispute involved the paternal grandparents (the applicants) and the child's mother and father (the respondents).

The court was required to determine the primary residence of the child, the allocation of parental responsibility for major long-term issues, the nature and extent of time the child would spend with each parent, and provisions for communication, medical information, and schooling. The court also addressed the issue of denigration of parties in the child's presence and the payment of costs.

Bell J ordered that the child, B, live with the applicant paternal grandparents and that they have sole parental responsibility for major long-term issues. The mother was to spend time with the child as agreed, or as determined by the court, and the father was to have supervised time with the child on alternate weekends once the child commenced school. The court also made detailed orders regarding communication between the mother and the child, the grandparents' access to the child's medical and educational information, and prohibitions against denigration. The mother was ordered to pay the applicants' wasted costs from a previous hearing, with a provision for her to apply to set aside this cost order within 21 days.