Wentworth and Wentworth

In the matter of *Wentworth and Wentworth*, Carew J of the Family Court of Australia made orders concerning the parental responsibility and time arrangements for the child X. The dispute involved allegations of sexual abuse and "systems abuse" by the mother, which led to significant restrictions on her contact with the child.

The court was required to determine the most appropriate parenting arrangements that would serve the best interests of the child, X. This involved assessing the impact of the mother's alleged conduct on the child and establishing a framework for future contact that prioritised the child's safety and well-being, while also considering the mother's need for therapeutic intervention.

Carew J ordered that the father have sole parental responsibility for the child, with specific procedural requirements for the father to inform the mother of decisions and consider her response, always with the child's best interests as paramount. The child was to live with the father. The mother's time with the child was initially restricted to telephone or FaceTime contact for six weeks, followed by a phased reintroduction of supervised contact, then unsupervised alternate weekend time, and a division of school holidays. Crucially, the mother was ordered to attend clinical psychology sessions to address her understanding of child behaviour and the impact of her actions, and was restrained from making further complaints to police or Child Safety regarding past allegations, and from recording the child in relation to sexual abuse allegations. The court also issued an injunction preventing the mother from removing the child from Child Dispute Services.