MADWICK & DALE (No.2)

In the matter of MADWICK & DALE (No.2), Judge Young of the Family Court of Australia considered parenting arrangements for a child nearing thirteen years of age. The existing orders stipulated that the child lived with the mother and spent time with the father. However, the father's work schedule had changed due to COVID-19, resulting in the child spending extended periods with him. The father sought to formalise this extended time, citing the child's wishes, while also facing allegations of coercive and controlling behaviour from the mother. A family consultant expressed reservations about the genuineness of the child's expressed wishes.

The central legal issues before the court were whether to vary the existing parenting orders to reflect the extended time the child had been spending with the father, and to what extent the child's wishes should be given weight in determining these arrangements, particularly in light of concerns raised by the family consultant. The court also had to consider the impact of the father's potential return to fly-in/fly-out work on future arrangements.

Judge Young ordered that the child spend time with his father on alternate weekends from Friday after school until Tuesday morning, commencing 27 November 2020. Specific arrangements were also made for the child's time with the father during the 2020/2021 long school holiday period. The court further ordered that if the father resumed fly-in/fly-out work, the previous time spending order would remain in effect. The matter was adjourned for a final hearing, with directions for parties to file updated trial affidavits.