Saller & Danell 2015 FamCA

A family violence order had been taken about against the father whose children were aged 8 and 5 years.  The parents were a high conflict couple.  The father had participated in supervised contact with the children, and applied for overnight stays.  The mother submitted that overnight stays be supervised by independent personnel, and that specific restrictions be introduced.

A family report recommended that the children spend the majority of time with the father, and that supervision of contact was not required.

The judge agreed that the children have overnight stays with the father and introduced specific orders to restrain the father from things that caused concern to the mother as follows: the father is not to physically chastise the children nor leave them unsupervised at any time; the father is not to chastise or strike the family dog; the father is not to yell at the children or in their presence; the father is not to allow the children to watch any visual presentation which does not have a “G” rating; and the father is not to kiss the children on the mouth.