Israel and Hilder

This matter concerned an application by Ms Israel and Mr Hilder regarding the living arrangements and parental responsibility for their child, M. The proceedings were heard by Bell J.

The court was required to determine the primary residence of the child, M, and the extent of parental responsibility to be afforded to each parent. Additionally, the court needed to establish the nature and conditions of the time the Mother would spend with the child, including whether such time would be supervised or unsupervised, and the specific arrangements for contact.

Bell J ordered that M live with the Father, Mr Hilder, and that the Father have sole parental responsibility. The Mother, Ms Israel, was initially ordered to spend limited, supervised time with M for two hours on Saturdays and Sundays over the last three weekends of each month, with supervision to be provided by Ms R at her premises. This supervised time was contingent on Ms R's consent and cooperation, and the Mother was to comply with Ms R's reasonable requests. The order stipulated that if Ms R was unable or unwilling to provide supervision, either party or the Independent Children's Lawyer could restore the matter to the court list. Following an undertaking of appropriate psychological treatment, as arranged and approved by the Independent Children's Lawyer, the Mother would transition to unsupervised time with M, with specific arrangements for alternate weekends, school holidays, Mother's Day, Christmas Day, and the child's birthday, as well as regular telephone contact. All collections and returns of the child were to occur at H Police Station. The matter was to be relisted for mention in five months, and no orders were made regarding costs for contravention proceedings. The Independent Children's Lawyer was permitted to provide relevant reports to the Mother's counsellor.