OSTER & HOULI

This matter concerned an application by the parties, Oster and Houli, regarding parental responsibility and time arrangements for their child, X. The decision was made by Judge Harland.

The court was required to determine issues of parental responsibility for major decisions concerning the child's health and education, as well as the specific arrangements for the child to spend time with each parent. Further issues included the location and method of handovers, the involvement of therapists and counsellors for both the child and the parents, and the imposition of injunctions relating to counselling and substance use. The court also considered communication protocols between the parents regarding the child's well-being and travel.

Judge Harland made orders for equal shared parental responsibility for major issues concerning the child, subject to specific temporary provisions for the mother to have sole responsibility for the child's health and education until a specified date, provided she notified and considered the father's views. From a later date, equal shared parental responsibility was to apply to health and education. The child was ordered to live with the mother, with detailed provisions for the child to spend time with the father, gradually increasing in duration and including overnight stays. Specific arrangements were also made for school holidays and extra-curricular activities. Handovers were to occur at a children's contact service or police station for some arrangements, and at a specified fast-food outlet or as otherwise agreed for others. The orders also mandated therapy for the child, with the Independent Children's Lawyer to nominate a therapist if the parents could not agree. Both parents were ordered to attend therapy, with the mother to attend upon a Ms W and the father to attend an anger management course and therapy related to family violence, alcohol dependence, and impulse control. Injunctions were granted restraining the mother from engaging the child in further counselling without the father's consent and restraining the father from consuming alcohol or illicit substances prior to or during time spent with the child. Communication protocols were established, requiring immediate notification of serious incidents and authorising each parent to receive information from the child's health professionals and school.