Ashton and Anor and Nettleton

In *Ashton and Anor v Nettleton*, heard before Benjamin J in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia, the applicants, the mother and stepfather of a child born in August 2003, sought orders dispensing with personal service on the respondent father. They also sought orders for joint parental responsibility, permission to relocate the child's residence from Tasmania to Singapore, and the ability to obtain a passport for the child without the father's consent.

The central legal issues before the court were whether to dispense with personal service on the father, and if so, whether to grant the orders sought concerning parental responsibility, relocation, and passport issuance. These issues required the court to consider the best interests of the child in the context of international relocation and the father's involvement in the child's life.

Benjamin J reasoned that dispensing with personal service was appropriate given the circumstances, which allowed the court to proceed with determining the substantive parenting orders. The court ultimately made orders granting the mother and stepfather joint parental responsibility for the child. Crucially, the court permitted the relocation of the child's residence to Singapore and authorised the mother and stepfather to obtain a passport for the child, all notwithstanding the absence of the father's consent.