Matheson and King

In the matter of Matheson and King, Justice Ryan of the Family Court of Australia determined parenting orders concerning a child born in January 2001. The dispute involved the mother and father regarding the child's living arrangements, parental responsibility, and time spent with each parent.

The court was required to determine the primary caregiver for the child, the allocation of parental responsibility, and the specific arrangements for the father's time with the child, including the duration and supervision of such time. Further issues included the communication protocols between the parents regarding decisions about the child, the requirement for both parents to engage in psychological assessment and treatment, and the child's ongoing counselling and protective behaviours program. The court also needed to address the parties' conduct towards each other in the child's presence and their use of cannabis.

Justice Ryan ordered that all prior parenting orders be discharged. The child was to live with the mother, who was granted sole parental responsibility. The mother was directed to provide the father with written notice of major decisions concerning the child's medical care, schooling, and extracurricular activities. The father's time with the child was to commence with supervised contact for 24 months, gradually transitioning to unsupervised time with increasing duration and frequency over several stages, including school holidays. The orders also mandated that both parents attend psychological assessments and treatment, and that the child continue counselling, with specific provisions for protective behaviours programs if necessary. The parties were restrained from denigrating each other in the child's presence and from questioning the child about abuse. Both parents were also restrained from using cannabis while the child was in their care. For 12 months, the Manager of Child Dispute Services was to supervise compliance with the orders.