King and King

This matter concerned parenting orders made by Judge Bender in the Federal Circuit Court of Australia. The dispute involved the living arrangements and parental responsibility for three children, X, Y, and Z.

The court was required to determine the appropriate parenting orders for the children, considering the circumstances presented. This included deciding on sole or shared parental responsibility, where the children would live, the nature and extent of the father's contact with the children, and various conditions and injunctions to be imposed on both parents. The court also had to consider the children's ongoing therapeutic needs and the father's compliance with programs aimed at addressing behavioural issues.

Judge Bender's reasoning led to the discharge of all previous parenting orders. The court ordered that the Mother have sole parental responsibility for X, Y, and Z, and that the children live with her. The Father was significantly restricted in his contact, with no face-to-face time permitted, but with supervised telephone contact alternating weekly. The Father was also ordered to complete a Men's Behavioural Change Program and a parenting program, and to engage with the Department of Health and Human Services. Injunctions were placed on both parents, restraining them from denigrating each other to the children, discussing proceedings with them, and exposing them to conflict. The court also made detailed orders regarding the children's counselling and therapeutic interventions.