Maduch and Gryka

This matter concerned a contravention application filed by the father against the mother, heard by Bennett J in the Federal Circuit Court of Australia. The proceedings involved disputes regarding parenting arrangements for the parties' two children, B and C.

The court was required to determine several issues, including the father's contravention application, the arrangements for the children's time with the father, and the need for expert assessment and independent representation for the children. Central to the determination was the preparation of a Parent and Issues Assessment by a family consultant.

Bennett J ordered that the father's contravention application be adjourned to a later date, with liberty to apply for a further administrative adjournment if the Parent and Issues Assessment was not published in time. The mother was directed to file and serve her affidavit material by the adjourned date. Crucially, pursuant to section 11F of the *Family Law Act 1975*, the parties were ordered to attend appointments with a family consultant for the preparation of a Children and Parents Issues Assessment, with specific directions regarding attendance times and the consultant's discretion in organising interviews. The family consultant was authorised to refer to all filed documents and subpoenaed materials. Furthermore, pursuant to section 68L(2) of the *Family Law Act 1975*, the children were to be separately represented by an independent children's lawyer, with a request for Victoria Legal Aid to arrange this representation, ideally re-appointing the previous independent children's lawyer. Interim parenting orders were to be made by the next return date, considering the best interests of the children. The father was granted supervised time with the children each Sunday and telephone communication each Wednesday, pending the adjourned date. The court also suspended paragraph 4 of a previous order made on 9 September 2016. Finally, the court directed that the reasons for its decision be transcribed and placed on the court file, and that a Fact Sheet detailing the obligations and consequences of contravening the orders be attached and included within the orders.