O’CONNELL & O’CONNELL

The case of O’Connell & O’Connell involved an application concerning the living arrangements and parental responsibility for three children. The dispute arose after final consent orders made in November 2012 were not complied with by the mother, leading to the children ceasing to spend time with the father from March 2014, with only infrequent exceptions. The father sought orders for the children to live with him and for him to have sole parental responsibility.

The court was required to determine the children's best interests, considering their meaningful relationships with the father and the father's lack of risk of harm. A significant issue was the mother's willingness and ability to support the children's relationships with their father. The court also had to consider whether equal shared parental responsibility would serve the children's best interests, given the high level of conflict between the parents, and whether the party with whom the children live should have exclusive parental responsibility.

Austin J found that the children were aligned with the mother and that a continued trend of deterioration in their filial relationships with the father would likely result in those relationships being lost altogether if no remedial action was taken. The court determined that dire consequences for the children would arise if they remained living with the mother and that no reprieve could be expected unless they lived with the father. Consequently, the court ordered that the children live with the father and that he have sole parental responsibility for major long-term issues. The court also made detailed orders for the children to spend time with the mother, commencing with supervised visits and gradually increasing to alternate weekends and half of school holidays, with specific provisions for holidays and communication. The mother was also restrained from approaching the father's residence or the children's schools for a specified period.