Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women and Kelada

The parties before the court were the Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women (the Applicant) and Ms Kelada (the Respondent Mother), concerning the child C. The dispute involved the whereabouts of the Respondent Mother and the child, and the Applicant sought orders to locate them and prevent the child's removal from Australia. The decision was made by Hogan J of the Family Court of Australia.

The court was required to determine whether to grant orders pursuant to section 67M of the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth) compelling the Residential Tenancies Authority and the Director-General of the Department of Queensland Health to provide information regarding the whereabouts of the Respondent Mother and the child, as well as details of any bank accounts, driver's licences, and passports associated with them. Additionally, the court considered whether to grant leave for the disclosure of this information and whether to issue an injunction restraining the removal of the child from Australia, along with associated enforcement powers.

Hogan J applied section 67M of the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth), which permits the court to order a person or authority to provide information to assist in locating a child or a parent. The court also considered section 67P(1) of the Act, which allows for the disclosure of information obtained under such orders. The reasoning focused on the need to locate the child and Respondent Mother for the proper conduct of the proceedings, particularly in light of potential international child abduction concerns. The court also applied principles relating to injunctive relief to protect the welfare of the child.

The court ordered the Residential Tenancies Authority and the Director-General of Queensland Health to search their records and provide specified information within 14 days, with searches limited to once every three months for a period of one year. Leave was granted to disclose this information to the Applicant's solicitor and relevant Commonwealth and State Central Authorities. An injunction was issued restraining the Respondent Mother from removing the child from Australia, and the Australian Federal Police and other law enforcement agencies were empowered to enforce this order. The child's name was to be placed on the Family Law Watch List. The application was adjourned for further hearing after the Respondent Mother was located.