MANDIC & BELLAIRE

The case of *Mandic & Belliare* involved parenting orders concerning a child born in 2008. The dispute centred on issues of parental responsibility, the child's living arrangements and time spent with each parent, schooling, and overseas travel. The matter was heard by McClelland J.

The court was required to determine several key issues, including the extent of parental responsibility, the specific arrangements for the child to live with the mother and spend time with the father, and the location for changeovers between parents. Further, the court had to consider the mother's application to change the child's school, the parameters for overseas travel with the child, and the allocation of costs for the Independent Children's Lawyer.

McClelland J made orders establishing equal shared parental responsibility for the child, with the child to live with the mother. Specific time arrangements were detailed for the father, including a two-weekly cycle during school terms and a division of school holidays. Changeovers were generally to occur at the child's school where practicable. The court found that it was not in the child's best interests to change schools and ordered that the child remain at his current school, with the parents to attend mediation regarding future schooling before the child commenced high school. Regarding overseas travel, each parent was permitted to remove the child from Australia for up to twenty-one days per year, subject to specific notice requirements and limitations on school absence.

Finally, the court ordered that the parties share equally in the costs of the Independent Children's Lawyer. Injunctions were also made restraining the parents from denigrating each other or members of their households in the presence or hearing of the child.