Horowitz and Cole and Anor

In the matter of *Horowitz and Cole and Anor*, Foster J of the Family Court of Australia considered the parental responsibility and living arrangements for three children, X, Y, and Z. The dispute involved the parents, Ms Cole (the Mother) and Mr Horowitz (the Father), and the Minister for Family and Community Services, represented by the Secretary of the Department of Family and Community Services. The court was tasked with determining the future care and contact arrangements for the children, given the involvement of the state.

The central legal issues before the court were the extent of parental responsibility to be exercised by the Minister, the children's primary residence, and the nature and conditions of contact between the children and each of their parents. The court also had to consider the appropriate protective measures and injunctions to be put in place to safeguard the children's welfare, including restrictions on parental behaviour, communication, and proximity to the children and each other.

Foster J ordered that all existing parenting orders be discharged and that parental responsibility for the children be exercised solely by the Minister until they each turn 18. The children were to live as directed by the Secretary. Contact arrangements were significantly structured and supervised, with the Mother having supervised time a minimum of four times per year, and the Father having progressively increasing supervised contact, with specific conditions relating to drug and alcohol use, communication with the Mother, and attendance at certain premises. The court also imposed extensive injunctions on both parents, restraining them from various behaviours including drug and alcohol consumption, denigrating each other or the children, discussing proceedings with the children, exposing them to domestic violence, physically disciplining them, questioning them about carers, failing to take prescribed medication, harassing each other, and, for the Mother, from contacting or approaching the children or their residences. Both parents were also ordered to submit to random drug testing and inform the Secretary of any change of address. The court accepted an undertaking from Ms JJ regarding the children's care.