Huzar and Cela and Ors

In *Huzar and Cela and Ors*, Forrest J of the Federal Circuit Court of Australia considered an application concerning the parenting arrangements for a child, D. The proceedings involved the child's mother, the child's father, and the child's maternal grandparents, Ms C Cela and Ms B Cela. The dispute centred on who should have parental responsibility and where the child should live.

The court was required to determine the appropriate orders for parental responsibility, the child's living arrangements, and the nature and extent of the child's time with and communication with each of the parents and the maternal grandparents. Specifically, the court had to consider the implications of the consent of the mother and maternal grandparents to certain orders, contrasted with the lack of consent from the father.

By consent between the mother and the maternal grandparents, the court ordered that the maternal grandparents would have equal shared parental responsibility for making decisions about major long-term issues concerning the child, to the exclusion of both the mother and the father. The child was ordered to live with the maternal grandparents, and to spend time with and communicate with the mother as agreed between the mother and the maternal grandparents. Crucially, the child was ordered to spend no time with the father, and the father was prohibited from communicating with the child. The maternal grandparents were given discretion to provide the father with information regarding the child's development. The Independent Children's Lawyer was discharged.