Lavazzi and Braemer

In the matter of *Lavazzi and Braemer*, heard before Watts J, the dispute concerned parenting orders for two children, K and M. The proceedings involved the mother and father of the children, with the court ultimately making orders regarding parental responsibility, living arrangements, and the children's time with each parent.

The court was required to determine the extent of parental responsibility for making decisions about major long-term issues concerning the children, including their education, religious and cultural upbringing, health, names, and significant changes to living arrangements. The court also had to consider the children's living arrangements and the time they would spend with each parent, as well as provisions for parental access to information regarding the children's welfare and any proposed relocation of the children.

Watts J ordered that the mother have sole parental responsibility for making decisions about major long-term issues for the children, defining such issues broadly to encompass education, upbringing, health, names, and significant changes to living arrangements. The children were ordered to live with the mother, and to spend such time with the father as they determined. The mother was required to notify the father in writing of her decisions regarding the children's long-term care quarterly. Both parents were authorised to obtain information from the children's schools and health professionals. The mother was restrained from relocating the children from the Cairns area without providing the father with one month's written notice, allowing him to seek interim orders. The children were to retain the surname "Lavazzi-Braemer". The Independent Children's Lawyer was to read a specific letter to each child and provide them with a copy. The order appointing the Independent Children's Lawyer was discharged. The court also incorporated a Fact Sheet detailing the obligations created by the orders and the consequences of contravention.