CAUSER & KALB

This matter concerned an application before Cronin J of the Family Court of Australia. The applicant father sought orders regarding the parental responsibility and living arrangements for his two daughters, O and H, born in 2004 and 2006 respectively. The respondent mother did not attend the hearing, and the court granted leave to proceed in her absence.

The court was required to determine issues of parental responsibility, the children's residence, and the nature and extent of the mother's contact with the children. Additionally, the court considered the need for injunctions to prevent the removal of the children from a specific geographical area and from Australia, including the involvement of the Australian Federal Police in enforcing such restrictions.

Cronin J ordered that the father have sole parental responsibility for the children and that they live with him. The court stipulated that any time spent between the mother and the children, and any communication concerning their relationship, was to be by agreement between the parents. Crucially, the mother was restrained by injunction from removing the children from the Town B area. Furthermore, both the father and the mother, their servants and agents, were restrained from removing or attempting to remove the children from the Commonwealth of Australia. The court requested the Australian Federal Police to place the children's names on the Airport Watch List for a period of two years, with provisions for extension upon application. The father was directed to serve a sealed copy of the orders on the Australian Federal Police and to provide a copy of the orders and reasons to the mother. The father's application filed on 4 August 2014 was otherwise dismissed, and the orders of the Local Court at Town B were discharged. The court also noted that particulars of the obligations and consequences of contravening the orders were set out in an attached Fact Sheet.