Bray and Constable

In the Family Court of Australia, Mr Bray (the father) applied for urgent interim orders to travel with his son, X, to the United Arab Emirates during the July 2013 school holidays. Ms Constable (the mother) opposed this application. A previous application by the father for similar overseas travel was dismissed by a Federal Circuit Court Judge.

The court was required to determine whether it was in the child's best interests to permit him to travel to the UAE with his father for a three-week holiday. This involved considering the father's proposal, the mother's objections, the findings and recommendations of a family report prepared by Ms BB, and the child's expressed wishes and mental health concerns. The court also had to address the mother's concerns regarding the UAE's status as a non-signatory to the Hague Convention and the father's past employment history.

The court's reasoning was heavily influenced by the family report, which supported the proposed holiday as an opportunity for the child to experience the UAE lifestyle and his father's living arrangements. The report also noted the child's desire to be with his father and his mental health difficulties, suggesting the holiday could provide him with something positive to anticipate. The Independent Children's Lawyer also supported the recommendation for the holiday. To address the mother's concerns about the child's return, the court ordered the father to provide security of $100,000, to be held in an interest-bearing account in the mother's solicitors' name, refundable upon the child's safe return.

The court made orders permitting the father to travel with the child to the United Arab Emirates from 29 June 2013 to 20 July 2013, subject to the father providing the specified security and adhering to strict itinerary and communication requirements. The father was also ordered to obtain the child's passport and notarised birth certificate, with the mother to provide necessary signatures promptly. Upon return, the child's passport was to be returned to the mother.