Theophane & Hunt (Final Parenting Orders)

This case concerned final parenting orders for the child, X Theophane, born in 2006. The dispute involved the mother and father, with the court required to determine the living arrangements for the child, the extent of the father's time and communication with the child, and parental responsibility. The court also considered whether the father should be restrained from instituting further proceedings under the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth).

The central legal issues before the court were the best interests of the child, particularly in light of the father's anti-social personality traits and the mother's mental health challenges. The court had to assess the risk of harm to the child from continued interaction with the father, the potential adverse impact on the mother's parenting capacity, and the mother's alleged risk to the child. The court also considered the presumption of equal shared parental responsibility and whether it applied, and the father's history of litigation.

Justice Tree applied the principles of the best interests of the child, giving significant weight to the unchallenged evidence of the family report writer. The court found a real risk of emotional harm to the child posed by the father's personality traits, accepting that the emotional risks of ending contact with the father were lower than the known harm from continued contact. The court also found that continued interaction with the father would significantly affect the mother's psychological health and ability to cope, noting her post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and recent suicide ideation. The father's controlling and dominating behaviour, his failure to contribute financially to the child's upkeep, and his coaching of the child in relation to their living arrangements were also considered. The court was not satisfied that the mother presented an unacceptable risk of harm to the child, despite some acknowledged risks. The presumption of equal shared parental responsibility was found not to apply, and the court determined that sole parental responsibility for the mother was appropriate.

The court ordered that the child live with the mother and that the mother have sole parental responsibility. The father's time and communication with the child were suspended until the child attained the age of eighteen, with the exception of one birthday and one Christmas card or letter per year, to be vetted by the mother. The father was also restrained from contacting the child's school and from coming into proximity of the mother or child. Furthermore, the father was prohibited from instituting further proceedings under the *Family Law Act* without leave of the court, due to his history of vexatious litigation.