SHIFFER & GEISS

This matter concerned parenting orders for a child, X, born in 2007, where the parties, the Mother (Ms Shiffer) and the Father (Mr Geiss), had been engaged in litigation since 2008. The case came before Judge Willis in the Family Court of Australia following a four-day contested hearing in 2012, with the current hearing being undefended. The core of the dispute revolved around the Father's alleged obsessive parenting style, his engagement in abuse of the child, and his practice of making recordings of the child.

The Court was required to determine the appropriate parenting arrangements for the child, specifically addressing issues of parental responsibility, the child's living arrangements, and the extent of any time the child should spend with the Father. The Court also had to consider various restraints on the Father's conduct and the implications for the child's passport and overseas travel.

Judge Willis reasoned that given the history of the proceedings, the Father's conduct, including the abuse of the child and the obsessive parenting style, necessitated significant orders to protect the child's welfare. The Court applied principles of child welfare and safety, concluding that the child should live with the Mother and have sole parental responsibility for long-term and day-to-day decisions, with specific communication and notification requirements to the Father. Crucially, the Court ordered that the child spend no time with the Father, and imposed extensive restraints on the Father's behaviour, including prohibitions on making contact, making derogatory comments about the Mother, making recordings, attending at the Mother's home or the child's school, and removing the child from the Mother's care. The Mother was also permitted to apply for the child's passport and travel overseas with the child at her discretion.