Stankic and Cagnani & Anor

In the Family Court of Australia, Benjamin J made orders concerning the children B and C, born in 2002 and 2005 respectively. The proceedings involved the mother and the father, with the paternal grandmother initially a party but subsequently removed from the proceedings. The dispute concerned the living arrangements, time spent with each parent, and parental responsibility for the children.

The court was required to determine the specific orders regarding the children's residence, the allocation of parental responsibility, and the arrangements for the children spending time with the father and paternal grandmother. Additionally, the court addressed issues of communication between parents, school and medical information, travel arrangements, and financial contributions towards the children's education and extracurricular activities. The court also made orders restraining certain behaviours between the parties and regarding the children's passports.

The orders were made partly by consent and partly by determination. By consent, the father retained parental responsibility for obtaining information from schools and health professionals. By determination, the mother was granted sole parental responsibility, with specific provisions for the father to be notified of long-term decisions affecting the children's welfare. The court ordered that the children live with the mother and spend time with the father and paternal grandmother on a fortnightly basis during school terms, with detailed provisions for holidays, birthdays, and other significant dates. The court also made orders regarding school attendance, extracurricular activities, communication between parents and children, and prohibitions against denigrating each other or discussing proceedings with the children.

By determination, the court also ordered that each party be restrained from loitering or approaching within 100 metres of the other party's home or place of work. Further determined orders addressed the division of school holidays, the retention and use of the children's passports, and the renewal of these passports, with costs to be shared equally. The father was ordered to pay tuition fees for UU School, and the mother was ordered to pay for extracurricular activities, with neither payment to be set off against periodic child support assessments. The court also made specific orders for the father to spend time with the children prior to the commencement of Term 1, 2017.