A six-year-old boy with cancer will not be forced to undergo radiotherapy, but a Perth judge has left the door open for the case to return to court if required.
Oshin Kiszko was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour last year, but his parents, Angela Kiszko and Adrian Strachan, opposed the treatment recommended by doctors due to the severe side effects.
A court order in March forced Oshin to receive chemotherapy and he was given two cycles of the treatment.
Family Court Chief Judge Stephen Thackray then considered whether Oshin should also be given radiotherapy and handed down his judgment on Friday, saying the parents had given an undertaking to continue chemotherapy instead.
"I see no need for me to mandate the chemotherapy treatment," he said.
Justice Thackray said rather than dismissing the hospital application, he would adjourn it without fixing a further hearing date to allow the matter to return to court if the hospital considered intervention was required.
"Oshin's chances of survival have now been reduced significantly from what they might have been," Justice Thackray said.
"My decision would have been harder to make if the chances of survival were greater than they are now."
Justice Thackray noted there were different expert opinions about Oshin's medical treatment.
He also considered the conduct of Oshin's parents and their "passionate and highly public" objection to Oshin undergoing radiotherapy.
"Their behaviour gives cause for concern about their ability to control their emotions around this topic in the presence of Oshin," he said.
"If Oshin were to have 'forced' radiotherapy, I fear he would again be exposed to his parents' hostility and bitterness, potentially causing him even more psychological trauma."
But Justice Thackray also acknowledged that Oshin's parents had done what they thought was right.
"Although it was they who chose to expose themselves to the glare of an, at times, unforgiving public, there is no reason to consider that they were ever motivated by anything other than genuinely held beliefs and love for their son," he said.
"I wish them well in their journey with Oshin in the difficult days and months ahead."
Justice Thackray also said it was "outrageous" the treating doctors had been denounced on social media for "performing the very task that our society expects them to perform - that is, doing their best for a young and vulnerable child entrusted by his parents to their care."
Oshin's parents declined to speak to the media as they left the court.
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