Lomax and Hodge

In the matter of *Lomax and Hodge*, Judge McGuire of the Federal Circuit Court of Australia determined issues of parental responsibility and contact arrangements for two children, X and Y. The dispute concerned the arrangements for the children following the breakdown of the parents' relationship, with the mother seeking sole parental responsibility and specific contact limitations for the father.

The court was required to determine who should have sole parental responsibility for X and Y, where the children should live, and the nature and extent of the father's communication and contact with them. A key issue was the appropriate balance between the father's desire for contact and the need to protect the children and the mother from potentially inappropriate communications. The court also considered the future liberty to apply for altered contact arrangements based on the father's demonstrated insight into his past behaviour.

Judge McGuire ordered that the mother have sole parental responsibility for both children and that they live with her. The father was permitted to communicate with the children by card or letter at Christmas and on their birthdays, with the mother to facilitate receipt and encourage responses, but with the discretion to withhold communications deemed inappropriate. The father was otherwise restrained from contacting the children, except at the mother's instigation and on her terms. These orders regarding X were to apply only until 25 January 2018. The father was granted liberty to apply for further orders regarding time with the children, contingent upon a psychologist's affidavit confirming receipt of relevant documents and an assessment of the father's appropriate acknowledgments and insight into his behaviour.