M and G

In the matter of M and G, Justice Kay of the Family Court of Australia considered a dispute concerning the residence of a child. The core of the disagreement revolved around how to characterise the time a child spent with each parent, particularly in light of specific, short-term arrangements for holidays and significant dates.

The primary legal issue before the court was to determine the appropriate terminology and legal framework for describing the child's living arrangements. Specifically, the court needed to decide whether short periods of time spent with the non-resident parent, such as over Christmas, birthdays, or Mother's Day and Father's Day, should be classified as "contact" or if the overall arrangement constituted a "residence" issue.

Justice Kay reasoned that short, specific periods of time with the non-resident parent should be appropriately described as "contact". This would allow the parent who is not the primary resident on those particular days to still have that time with the child. However, for all other periods, the court considered it appropriate to describe the arrangement as a "residence" issue, signifying that the child resides with one parent for a defined period and then with the other parent for a subsequent defined period. The court indicated its intention to draw up orders reflecting this distinction.