Sully and Sully and Anor

In the matter of *Sully and Sully*, Berman J of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia considered applications concerning the parenting of five children, where the sibling group was divided, with the two older children residing with their grandmother and the three younger children living with their mother. The grandmother sought orders for all children to live with her, while the mother sought for the younger children to remain in her care, and the father sought unsupervised time with the younger children. The proceedings were marked by allegations of drug and alcohol abuse, family violence, child sexual abuse, alienation, and a high level of dysfunction between the parties, with multiple family reports and recommendations for promoting sibling relationships.

The court was required to determine the paramount consideration of the best interests of the children, taking into account additional outlined considerations. Specifically, the court had to assess the impact of the father's admitted history of extreme domestic violence against the mother on his application for unsupervised time, considering his lack of insight into the effects of his behaviour and a potential desensitisation to family violence. The court also needed to weigh the unacceptable risk of harm to children witnessing violent behaviour against the family consultant's view that the father's history was not a barrier to unsupervised time.

Berman J applied the best interests test, giving significant weight to the allegations and history of domestic violence. The court ordered that the two older children live with the grandmother and have sole parental responsibility for them, while the mother retained sole parental responsibility for the three younger children, who were ordered to live with her. Detailed orders were made for time spent between the children and their respective parents and grandmother, including provisions for sibling unification on two occasions per year. Crucially, the father was ordered to attend anger management, domestic violence, and substance abuse counselling before commencing supervised time with the younger children, with a gradually increasing basis for unsupervised time contingent on successful completion of these programs. The court also made various restraining orders and communication provisions to safeguard the children's welfare.