Sare and Rainey

This case concerned parenting orders made by Tree J in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia. The dispute involved the mother and father of two children, X and Y, born in 2013 and 2016 respectively. The court was required to determine the future parenting arrangements for the children, including parental responsibility, living arrangements, and time spent with each parent.

The primary legal issues before the court were the allocation of parental responsibility, the children's primary residence, and the terms of the father's time with the children, particularly in light of the mother's proposed relocation to Japan. The court also had to consider the conditions under which supervised time might transition to unsupervised time, and the communication arrangements between the father and the children. Further issues included the mother's liberty to register the children's birth certificates in Japan and to apply for or renew their Australian passports without the father's consent.

In its determination, the court discharged all previous parenting orders. The mother was granted sole parental responsibility for the children, with specific provisions for the father to be advised of and provide input on significant decisions. The children were ordered to live with the mother, who was permitted to relocate them to the environs of City B, Japan, or within 50 kilometres thereof. The father's time with the children was significantly structured, initially supervised and with a progressive increase in duration and decrease in supervision requirements as the children aged and, for the father, as he met specific conditions, including providing a series of clean hair follicle tests. The court also made orders regarding communication between the father and children, and granted the mother liberty to register birth certificates and apply for passports without the father's consent, deeming the order sufficient authority under the *Australian Passports Act 2005*. An injunction was also imposed restraining the father from removing the children from the mother's care outside of agreed times.