Thornton and Machey & Anor

The proceedings before the Family Court of Australia involved the paternal grandmother as the applicant, and the mother and father as respondents, concerning parenting arrangements for their child. The dispute arose following previous consent orders made in December 2010, which were quickly followed by controversy, leading the paternal grandmother to initiate these proceedings due to concerns about the child's alleged sexual abuse within the mother's household.

The court was required to determine several key issues, including with whom the child should live and spend time, the nature of parental responsibility, and the appropriateness of various injunctions. Specifically, the court considered the child's significant and meaningful relationship with the paternal grandmother, the risk of psychological harm if removed from her care, and the benefit of restoring the child's relationship with the mother through a graduated time-sharing scheme. The court also addressed the implications of abandoned allegations of sexual harm and the need for the mother's involvement in major long-term decisions.

In its reasoning, the court applied principles from the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth) concerning the best interests of the child, including the importance of maintaining relationships and protecting the child from harm. The court found that the child had a more significant relationship with the paternal grandmother and that removing the child from her care posed a high risk of psychological harm. Consequently, the court ordered that the child live with the paternal grandmother and that the mother, father, and paternal grandmother share equal parental responsibility. A graduated time-sharing arrangement was established to facilitate the restoration of the child's relationship with the mother over a two-year period, and injunctions were imposed to protect the child from harmful discussions and to regulate the names used by or in the presence of the child. The court also ordered a change to the child's surname to "Machey-Thornton" and mandated therapeutic counselling for the child.