Cameroon and Darcy (No 3)

In *Cameroon and Darcy (No 3)*, Strickland J of the Family Court of Australia considered an application concerning the immediate care and contact arrangements for a child born in July 1998. The dispute involved the mother and father, with the court making orders regarding the child's handover and the mother's future contact.

The central legal issues before the court were the immediate welfare of the child and the appropriate interim parenting orders, particularly in light of a Notice of Child Abuse filed by the mother. The court was required to determine whether to suspend existing orders for the child to spend time or live with the mother and to make orders for the child's immediate delivery to the father.

Strickland J ordered the immediate delivery of the child to the father, with the mother restrained from attending the handover. Crucially, any existing orders for the child to spend time or live with the mother were suspended until 11 January 2010. The court also ordered the mother to serve a Notice of Child Abuse upon the father's solicitor and the Independent Children's Lawyer, and dismissed the mother's Response filed on 8 December 2009. The matter was adjourned for further consideration on 11 January 2010, with the court noting the particulars of obligations and consequences of contravention under sections 62B and 65DA(2) of the *Family Law Act 1975*.