Joe and Cannon

In the Family Court of Australia, Benjamin J made orders concerning the parenting of a child born in October 1999, resolving a dispute between the child's mother, Ms Joe, and her father, Mr Cannon. The court's decision addressed the child's living arrangements, time spent with each parent, communication, and international travel.

The central legal issues before the court were the determination of parental responsibility, the specific arrangements for the child's time with each parent, the nature and supervision of contact, and the conditions under which the child could travel internationally. The court also considered the child's ongoing therapeutic needs and the role of support services.

Benjamin J reasoned that the child's best interests, as paramount under the *Family Law Act*, necessitated significant restrictions on the father's unsupervised contact and communication with the child, particularly given the child's age and therapeutic requirements. The court ordered that the mother have sole parental responsibility and that the child live with her. Time spent with the father was to be supervised and limited in duration, with specific provisions for contact centres and the father's wife. The mother was restrained from removing the child from Australia until her thirteenth birthday, with specific conditions for future overseas travel. The court also mandated ongoing therapeutic counselling for the child and support for both mother and child from a family centre, and imposed strict communication protocols between the parents and the child. The court further ordered that any variation to these arrangements required a subsequent court order, not a parenting plan.