Mitty and Mitty

In Mitty and Mitty, Justice Le Poer Trench of the Family Court of Australia determined parenting orders concerning the children H, L, and S. The dispute involved the mother's application to relocate the children to Queensland and the father's parenting arrangements.

The court was required to determine the primary caregiver for the children, where the children would reside, and whether the mother should be permitted to relocate them to Queensland. Further issues included establishing appropriate communication and time arrangements between the father and the children, including supervised contact and future unsupervised time, as well as addressing the parents' ongoing communication and the appointment of an Independent Children's Lawyer.

Justice Le Poer Trench ordered that the mother have sole parental responsibility and that the children live with her. The mother was permitted to relocate the children to Queensland, subject to fulfilling a condition requiring her to register for supervised contact at a specified centre. The father was to have supervised contact at this centre for a period, followed by progressively increasing unsupervised time, including regular weekend and holiday contact. The orders also mandated family counselling for the parents, a parenting after separation course for the father, and imposed restrictions on the parents denigrating each other in the children's presence. The court also made orders by consent restraining further proceedings without leave and noted undertakings from the father regarding child support and communication.