Tory & Pratt & Ors

This matter concerned parenting orders made by Flohm J in the Federal Circuit Court of Australia. The proceedings involved a mother, Ms Pratt, and a grandmother, Ms Tory, concerning their child. The court was required to determine the future living arrangements and parental responsibility for the child, as well as the nature and extent of contact between the child and the grandmother.

The central legal issues before the court were the determination of the child's residence, the allocation of parental responsibility, and the conditions under which supervised contact between the child and the grandmother would occur. The court also had to consider orders relating to the protection of the child from negative commentary, the dissemination of court documents, restrictions on the grandmother's proximity to the child, and the provision of support services for the mother.

Flohm J vacated all previous parenting orders and ordered that the child live with the mother, Ms Pratt, who was granted sole parental responsibility for all decisions concerning the child. The grandmother, Ms Tory, was to have supervised time with the child on four occasions per year, for up to two hours each, supervised by Relationships Australia or a similar service. Specific conditions were imposed on this supervised contact, including scheduling requirements, cost responsibilities for the grandmother, and notification protocols. The court also made orders restraining both parties from making derogatory remarks about each other in the child's presence and imposed restrictions on the grandmother's approach to the child's residence, school, and extracurricular activities. Further orders mandated the mother's engagement with psychological and parenting support services, and required her to inform the Department of Community Services of the support she had engaged. The court also noted that the mother was not obligated to provide the child for supervised contact until the grandmother complied with specific conditions.