Mawad & Hassen (No 2)

This case involved a dispute between Ms Mawad and Mr Hassen, the parents of a seven-year-old child, X. The primary issue before the court was the determination of parenting arrangements for the child, particularly whether the child should spend any time with the father, given the allegations of family violence and coercive control by the father against both the child and the mother. The mother sought an order that the child spend no time with the father and be removed from the Family Law Watchlist, while the father sought an equal shared care arrangement despite his own allegations of sexual abuse against the mother's partner.

The court had to decide whether the father's history of perpetrating family violence, including coercive and controlling behaviours, contradicted an order for equal shared parental responsibility. It also had to assess the credibility of the father's allegations of sexual abuse against the mother's partner and determine whether the child's safety and welfare could be adequately protected despite the mother's unilateral actions post-separation. The court's reasoning focused on the need to protect the child from the risks posed by the father's behaviour, which it found could not be sufficiently mitigated by supervision. The court concluded that the father's violent conduct and the serious nature of the allegations against him warranted an order that the child spend no time with him. Consequently, the court made orders that the child live with the mother and have sole parental responsibility, and that the father be restrained from contacting the mother and child.

The final orders included that the mother have sole parental responsibility for the child, that the child live with the mother and have no contact with the father, and that the father be restrained from approaching the mother and child. The court also ordered the father to contribute to the costs of the Independent Children's Lawyer and directed the Australian Federal Police to remove the child's name from the Family Law Watchlist. All other applications and responses were dismissed.