RAMA & DACE

This matter concerned parenting orders for four children, W, X, Y, and Z, born between 2007 and 2013. The dispute arose between the Applicant Father and the Respondent Mother following their separation in 2013. The court was required to determine the arrangements for parental responsibility, the children's living arrangements, and the time the children would spend with each parent, as well as address issues relating to their education, changeovers, communication, and injunctive restraints on the parents.

The court was tasked with determining the most appropriate orders for the children's welfare, considering their best interests. This involved establishing a framework for equal shared parental responsibility, defining where the children would primarily live, and detailing the specific times they would spend with the Father, including during term time, holidays, and on special days. The court also needed to consider the children's education, the practicalities of changeovers between parents, ongoing communication protocols, and the necessity of imposing injunctions to protect the children from parental conflict and prevent their removal from Australia.

In its determination, the court discharged all previous parenting orders and made new orders establishing equal shared parental responsibility for the children. The children were ordered to live with the Mother, with specific provisions for the Father to spend time with them on alternate weekends during term time, and a week-about arrangement during school holidays. The orders also detailed arrangements for special days, including birthdays and Christmas, and stipulated communication methods. The court further made orders regarding the children's enrolment in specific schools and authorised the Father to obtain school reports. Injunctions were imposed restraining both parents from discussing the proceedings with the children or denigrating the other parent in their presence, and from removing the children from Australia without prior court order or written agreement.