Lunn and Carpenter

In Lunn and Carpenter, Stevenson J of the Family Court of Australia considered orders relating to two children, I and G. The dispute concerned the parental responsibility and living arrangements for the children, with the mother seeking to introduce unsupervised time and the father maintaining the existing residence with him.

The court was required to determine the most appropriate parenting orders for the children, specifically addressing issues of equal shared parental responsibility, the children's residence, and the nature and extent of the mother's time with them. The court also had to consider the likely effect of any changes to the children's circumstances, including their separation from either parent, in accordance with section 60CC(3)(d) of the relevant legislation.

Stevenson J reasoned that the mother's concession that the children should continue to live with the father significantly reduced the current relevance of past difficulties in encouraging the children's relationship with their father. The court noted that the children were doing well living with the father, an arrangement that had been in place since May 2006. The judge found that the artificiality of supervised contact, as evidenced by records from a children's contact service, created difficulties and was potentially upsetting for the children. The court observed instances of children becoming bored, argumentative, or having tantrums during supervised visits, suggesting that the mother did not always handle their behaviour effectively within the constraints of the supervised environment.

The court ordered the discharge of all existing orders concerning the children and established equal shared parental responsibility. The children were to live with the father, and the mother was granted specific, gradually increasing periods of time with them, commencing with supervised contact and progressing to unsupervised alternate Saturdays and some holiday periods. The orders also included specific restraints on the mother regarding discussions of sexual abuse or matters of a sexual nature with the children, and required the parties to meet at an agreed public place for the commencement and conclusion of contact.