Vasil and Vasil (No 2)

In *Vasil and Vasil (No 2)*, Berman J of the Family Court of Australia considered a dispute between parents regarding their fourteen-year-old child. The child was living with the mother and spending time with the father, who sought to increase his time with the child. The mother contended that the child's wishes regarding time spent with the father should be paramount, while the father argued that the child's expressed wishes were influenced by the mother and that therapeutic intervention was necessary. The court also addressed the weight to be given to expert evidence provided by an American clinical psychologist instructed by the father, who had not contacted other parties or the child and had not been provided with relevant court documents or Family Law Rules.

The central legal issues before the court were whether to make orders regulating the child's time with the father, the weight to be attributed to the father's expert evidence given its limitations, and how to best promote a meaningful relationship between the child and the father in accordance with the child's best interests. The court was required to consider the child's expressed wishes, given her age, and to assess the objectivity and reliability of the expert evidence presented.

Berman J determined that the expert evidence from the American psychologist was of limited weight due to its lack of objectivity and the psychologist's limited engagement with the case material and parties. The court ultimately made orders for equal shared parental responsibility, with the child to live with the mother. The child was to spend time with the father on alternate Saturdays and intervening Mondays until 1 January 2021, with further time to be in accordance with the child's wishes thereafter, subject to specific provisions for holidays and birthdays. The orders also included provisions for communication, travel, and information sharing between the parents, with a general emphasis on the child's wishes where appropriate.