Henry & Oden and Anor

This case involved a dispute between Ms Henry (the maternal grandmother, the applicant) and Ms Oden (the mother, the first respondent) concerning the living arrangements and parental responsibility for the child, X Oden. Mr Krome was the second respondent. The matter came before Baumann J in the Family Court of Western Australia.

The court was required to determine the best interests of the child, X, in circumstances where there were significant concerns regarding the mother's functioning, emotional control, and past relationship choices. Specifically, the court had to consider the risks associated with the mother's home environment compared to the maternal grandmother's home, and whether the presumption of equal shared parental responsibility should apply. The court also needed to make orders regarding the child's residence, parental responsibility for major long-term issues, communication between the child and the mother, and supervised time between the child and the mother.

Baumann J found the mother to be an unreliable historian, whose evidence was often coloured by her own perceptions of her childhood and her antipathy towards her mother. While acknowledging some risks in the maternal grandmother's home, the court found these to be significantly less than the risks present in the mother's home. The court considered the child's views, as reported by a child psychologist, which indicated a preference for seeing her mother in Western Australia to avoid flying to Queensland. Applying the principles of the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth), particularly section 60CC, the court concluded that it was contrary to X's best interests for the presumption of equal shared parental responsibility to apply.

The court ordered that X live with the maternal grandmother in Western Australia and that the maternal grandmother have sole parental responsibility for major long-term decisions, subject to consultation with the mother. The mother was granted specific, supervised time with X, to occur in Western Australia during certain school holidays and in Queensland during other school holidays, with the mother bearing her own travel costs to Western Australia. The court also made detailed orders regarding communication between the mother and child, and the child's health and educational needs, emphasizing the importance of the maternal grandmother facilitating a positive parent-child relationship.