MURAD & PAVRI

In the matter of *Murad & Pavri*, Foster J of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia considered an application concerning the parental responsibility and residence of a child, X, born in 2013. The dispute involved the mother, Ms Murad, seeking sole parental responsibility and permission to relocate with the child to Country C, while the father, Mr Pavri, was also before the court.

The primary legal issues before the court were whether to grant the mother sole parental responsibility for the child, whether to order that the child live with the mother, and crucially, whether to permit the mother to relocate the child's residence to Country C and to travel internationally with the child. The court also had to determine the extent of the father's future involvement in the child's life, including communication and access arrangements, and the process for obtaining an Australian passport for the child.

Foster J reasoned that it was in the child's best interests to grant the mother sole parental responsibility and to order that the child live with her. The court further permitted the mother to relocate the child's residence to Country C and to travel internationally with the child, authorising her to apply for an Australian passport for the child without the father's consent. To facilitate ongoing paternal involvement, the mother was ordered to keep the father informed of the child's progress through photographs on birthdays and copies of school reports, and to inform him of specialist medical referrals and hospital admissions, authorising him to obtain reasonable information regarding the child's treatment. The father was permitted to spend time with and communicate with the child as agreed in writing by both parents.