KERR & LIPP

This matter concerned parenting orders made by Judge Henderson in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia. The dispute involved the parents of a child, X, born in 2007, and the terms of their parental responsibility and living arrangements.

The court was required to determine the future parenting arrangements for the child, including issues of sole parental responsibility, the child's residence, and the father's contact with the child. Further issues included the father's access to the child's school and residence, the child's ability to obtain an Australian passport, and the mother's ability to remove the child from Australia. The court also addressed the process for obtaining documentation related to the parties' religious marriage and the exchange of gifts and cards between the father and child.

Judge Henderson discharged all prior parenting orders and made new orders granting the mother sole parental responsibility and ordering the child to live with the mother. The father was restrained from attending the child's school and from coming within 200 metres of the child's residence. The mother was authorised to apply for an Australian passport for the child without the father's consent and was permitted to remove the child from Australia as she deemed appropriate. The court also made orders regarding the facilitation of documentation for the parties' religious marriage and established a process for the father to send gifts and cards to the child, subject to the mother's review and discretion. The parties were ordered to keep each other informed of their mailing addresses.