influence

Children aged 9 and 7 years who were of Aboriginal and South Sea Islander heritage lived with their mother.  Both the paternal grandmother and her late husband had extensive involvement in the Indigenous and South Sea...

A child aged 11 years was emotionally distressed and the parents disputed the reasons for this distress.  The mother reported that the child suffered violent and unpredictable mood changes when he would attack the mother verbally and would become abusive...

  There were two children of a relationship aged 14 and 11 years.  The mother requested that the younger child primarily live with her and that she have sole parental responsibility for him, but the father sought...

  A child aged 2 years had lived primarily with the father since separation, and the mother applied for the child to live with her for equal time.  When the relationship ended the father withheld the child and the...

The case involved a girl aged 12 years whose parents had been in ongoing conflict since they separated when she was aged 5 years (intractable conflict).  The child was described as mature. The judge noted there...

The parents of children aged 13, 11 & 9 years had separated 7 years earlier.  The mother alleged that during the relationship the father had perpetrated family violence upon her, and that the children’s refusal to see or...

The judge commented that marriage breakdown often produces emotional turmoil and conflict that impacts on young children and that high conflict between parents can have devastating effects on a child’s emotional development.  It is not uncommon to see otherwise...

Twins aged 12 years lived with their mother.  The father alleged that the mother tried to alienate the children from him as had occurred with an older sister. The judge had ordered that the children participate...

The case involved two children aged 13 and 17 years who both showed high levels of anxiety.  The older child had suffered glandular fever for some years.  The father was assessed as having anxiety, and had been...

The parents originated from European cultures and had two children aged 16 and 14 years.  The parenting arrangement for one child had been in place for ten years.  The father submitted changed circumstances and sought more...

This article first describes traditional concepts about parenting styles, and then reports a study of parenting styles that are seen in a family law context. TRADITIONAL CONCEPTS OF PARENTING STYLE Researchers distinguish different broad approaches for...

  A mother alleged that two girls aged 3 and 6 years had been subjected to sexual abuse by their father. The mother submitted 169 items of information to support her concerns. The judge found that,...

Both parents sought primary residence of three children aged 8, 6 and 5 years.  A previous judge had made orders that the children live primarily with the father and live with the mother on some days....

The case involved a child aged 13 years whose parents had separated when she was aged 8 years, where the parents engaged in ongoing conflict (high conflict couple).  Final orders had been made for the child...

Children aged 8 and 6 years lived with their mother after separation.  The mother and maternal grandparents refused to allow the children to spend time with their father despite orders to permit this.  The mother put...

A couple cohabited for about ten years before separating, had two daughters aged 11 and 9 years at the time of the hearing, and had engaged in legal proceedings for 5 years after separation.  The father...

The case involved parents of two girls aged 11 and 10 years.  The mother had an older daughter aged 19 years from a different relationship.  The parents separated after the 19 year old girl reported that the...

The judge discussed the weight to give to the expressed wishes of a girl aged 9 years to live with her mother (child’s wishes).  The judge found the girl to be of above average intelligence and...

The case involved three children aged 14, 12 and 8 years.  The trial judge ordered that parents have shared parental responsibility and that the children live primarily with their mother and spend time with the father.  The...

The Full Court indicated that a child’s wishes are important and should not be departed from where they are soundly based and have been expressed without influence from either parent and are expressed against a background...

Mellick & Mellick 2014 FamCAFC 236 A trial judge granted sole parental responsibility to one parent and the other parent appealed.  The trial judge found that the two parents had not exchanged information and had not...

A couple with eight children separated when three children were under the age of 18 years.  The mother was a fourth generation member of a church that functioned as a closed community.  The father left both...

Shared Time for Infants A policy document by the Australian Association for Infant Mental Health Inc. provides guidelines for the following situations: overnight stays for infants under 2 years away from a primary caregivers can create...