KAMANO & KAMANO

This matter concerned parenting orders for two children, J and T, born in 2002 and 2004 respectively. The dispute arose between their parents, the mother and the father, regarding the children's living arrangements and parental responsibility. The case was heard by Cleary J in the Family Court of Australia.

The court was required to determine several key issues. These included whether the presumption of equal shared parental responsibility should be rebutted, the appropriate allocation of parental responsibility, and the specific living arrangements for the children. The court also considered the mother's alleged failure to encourage the children's relationship with the father, her lack of insight into her anxieties, and the children's views, which were not given significant weight due to perceived pressure from the mother. The court also addressed allegations of medical negligence and the mother's concealment of her address.

Cleary J found that the presumption of equal shared parental responsibility was rebutted due to the parties' persistent failure to cooperate on major long-term issues concerning the children. The court noted that while there was no finding of family violence, the mother had contravened previous orders by frustrating the father's attempts to participate in medical decisions and by concealing her address. The court also found that the mother had failed to encourage the children's relationship with the father and lacked insight into the impact of her anxieties. Despite the children's views not being given significant weight, the court acknowledged that the children would benefit from continuing meaningful relationships with both parents and from their diverse cultural and religious backgrounds.

Consequently, the court discharged all prior parenting orders and ordered that the father have sole parental responsibility for the children on issues not otherwise defined by the new orders, with specific obligations for him to notify the mother and consider her views on long-term decisions. The court also made detailed orders regarding the children's living arrangements, specifying that the children would live with the mother for certain periods and with the father at all other times, including provisions for school holidays and birthdays. The mother was ordered to provide her current address to the father. The court also ordered that each parent pay half the costs of the Independent Children's Lawyer, noting that this was necessitated by the high level of conflict between the parties.