PALMER & KERR

In this matter before Loughnan J, the court considered a dispute between the parents of two children, X and Y, concerning their future care arrangements. The father sought sole parental responsibility, a change of residence for the children to live with him, and an extended period of no contact for the mother. Conversely, the mother sought sole parental responsibility, for the children to live with her, and for the father to have no contact until the children expressed a desire for it. The Independent Children’s Lawyer supported a change of residence for the children.

The court was required to determine the paramountcy of the children's welfare in light of significant parental alienation by the mother, the father's lack of meaningful time with the children since 2013, and expert predictions of serious psychological and emotional harm arising from either party's proposed arrangements. The court also had to consider the mother's allegations of abuse against the father, against which no meaningful adverse findings could be made, and the mother's admitted opposition to contact between the children and the father.

Loughnan J found that the children had become indoctrinated by their mother and that there was a high risk of ongoing harm if they remained living with her. The court reasoned that a change of residence was the only means by which the children could have a meaningful relationship with both parents. Consequently, the court made orders for the father to have sole parental responsibility and for the children to live with him. The mother was ordered to have no contact with the children for one month, followed by a seven-month period of no time spent with them, with limited supervised telephone/facetime contact commencing after the initial month. Further orders detailed a phased reintroduction of supervised and then unsupervised time with the mother, conditional on her engagement in family therapy and compliance with recommendations. Both parents and the children were ordered to participate in therapy nominated by the Independent Children’s Lawyer.