Nonaka and Nonaka

In *Nonaka and Nonaka*, Baumann J of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia made orders concerning the parenting arrangements for a child born in 2009. The dispute involved the father's relocation to Japan with the child and the mother's ongoing involvement in the child's life.

The court was required to determine the primary residence of the child, the nature of parental responsibility, the father's liberty to relocate the child overseas, and the specific arrangements for the child to spend time with the mother, both before and after the relocation. Further issues included the conditions attached to the mother's time with the child, particularly in relation to drug testing, and provisions for communication, information sharing, and the child's passports. The court also addressed the father's ability to depart Australia with the child and the mother's obligations regarding international watch lists.

Baumann J ordered that the child live with the father and that both parents share equal responsibility for major long-term decisions. The father was permitted to relocate the child to Japan by 31 December 2019. The court established a framework for the child to spend time with the mother, which included supervised contact prior to relocation, and conditional, alternating periods in Japan and Australia thereafter. These conditional periods were subject to the mother providing negative drug test results. The court also made orders regarding communication, information access, the child's passports, and the parents' conduct towards each other in the child's presence. The father was authorised to depart Australia with the child unconditionally, and the mother was restrained from placing the child on the Family Law Watch List. Each party was ordered to bear their own costs.