KINGS & MURRAY

This matter concerned applications made by Ms Kings and Mr Murray in the Family Court of Australia, presided over by Faulks DCJ. The dispute involved parenting orders concerning a child, Z, born in August 2006. Mr Murray subsequently withdrew all his existing applications, leading to their dismissal.

The court was required to determine the terms of parenting orders following an undefended hearing initiated by Ms Kings. Specifically, the court needed to address issues of parental responsibility, the child's living arrangements, communication and contact between the child and the father, and the personal protection of Ms Kings and the child. The court also considered the father's ability to receive information from the child's school and the circumstances under which he might be restrained from approaching the mother or child.

Faulks DCJ reasoned that given Mr Murray's withdrawal of his applications, the orders would proceed on an undefended basis concerning Ms Kings' applications. The court made orders granting Ms Kings sole parental responsibility for Z and stipulating that the child would live with her mother. No specific orders were made regarding communication or time with the father, though the mother was to inform the father of any major accident or health issue concerning the child. The court also made orders for the personal protection of Ms Kings and Z, restraining Mr Murray from harassing, threatening, or intimidating them, and prohibiting him from approaching within one hundred metres of either of them. These protection orders were made pursuant to s 68B of the *Family Law Act 1975*, with provisions for arrest without warrant by police if certain breaches were suspected. The court also made provisions for the father to contact the child's school and to communicate with the child through the applicant's parents, and stipulated that the mother would facilitate the resumption of contact if the child wished to seek out her father. Further orders addressed the discharge of previous airport watch list orders, restrictions on permanent relocation from Australia, and procedural requirements for any future applications made by Mr Murray.