JANE & JANE

The Family Court of Australia considered the parenting arrangements for four children in the matter of Jane & Jane. The dispute involved past family violence and physical abuse perpetrated by the father against the mother and children, although the father had ceased such behaviour for over two years and was no longer deemed an unacceptable risk. A significant issue was the mother's desire to relocate the children to the United Kingdom, which the father opposed.

The court was required to determine several key issues. Firstly, it needed to assess whether the presumption of equal shared parental responsibility applied, given the history of family violence. Secondly, the court had to consider the children's best interests regarding their time spent with each parent, particularly in light of the proposed relocation. Finally, the court was tasked with making final parenting orders that addressed the children's living arrangements, time with each parent, and the practicalities of international relocation.

In its reasoning, the court found that while the presumption of equal shared parental responsibility did not apply due to the past abuse, both parents demonstrated a capacity for communication and negotiation regarding major long-term issues. Consequently, equal shared parental responsibility was allocated. The court determined that it was in the children's best interests and reasonably practicable for them to spend unsupervised time with the father on an expanding basis, progressing to substantial and significant time, contingent on his continued psychological therapy and abstinence from corporal punishment. The court also found that the relocation to the United Kingdom with the mother was in the children's best interests, given their meaningful relationships with both parents, the encouragement of these relationships by both parties, and the absence of demonstrated financial disadvantage. The court noted that final parenting orders could be enforced in the United Kingdom under the relevant international convention.

The court ordered the discharge of all former parenting orders. It declared that the mother and father would have equal shared parental responsibility for the children, with the children to live with the mother. Specific orders were made regarding the children spending time with the father, with these arrangements designed to expand over time and subject to his compliance with therapeutic requirements and a prohibition on corporal punishment. The court also made orders facilitating the relocation of the children and mother to the United Kingdom, with provisions for the father to also relocate there, and noted that these orders would be enforceable internationally.