Levens and Gaisford

In the matter of Levens and Gaisford, heard by Judge Riley, the dispute concerned parenting orders for a child, X, born in 2010. The proceedings involved the father and the maternal grandparents of X.

The court was required to determine a range of issues relating to X's future care and living arrangements, including the discharge of existing parenting orders, the allocation of parental responsibility, where X would live, and the nature and extent of X's time with his maternal grandparents. Further issues included the facilitation of communication between X and his grandparents, the payment of travel costs, and the provision of school information. The court also considered the need for psychological support for X and the father, and imposed restraints on the parties regarding disparaging remarks made in X's presence.

The court ordered the discharge of all extant parenting orders concerning X and granted the father sole parental responsibility. X was to live with his father, commencing on 24 March 2020. Specific arrangements were detailed for X's time with his maternal grandparents, including school holiday periods and annual Christmas and January arrangements, with provisions for communication and travel. The father was ordered to ensure X attended psychological counselling to address relocation issues and past perceptions of abandonment, and the father was also to attend sessions as directed. The court also made orders regarding the payment of travel costs for X to spend time with his grandparents, with a contribution from the grandparents for flights. Further orders included provisions for the maternal grandparents to spend time with X and attend school functions, and a restraint on the maternal grandfather leaving X in the sole care of the maternal grandmother until her mental and neurological health was assessed. Finally, the court ordered the discharge of the independent children's lawyer and dismissed all other extant applications, with particulars of obligations and consequences for contravention set out in an attachment.