Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women and Townsend and Anor

This matter concerned an application by the Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women against Ms Townsend and Mr Slesser, the parents of a child named X. The dispute involved allegations of child abduction, with the Department seeking orders to prevent the removal of the child from Australia and to maintain her current residence. The proceedings were before Hogan J of the Family Court of Australia.

The court was required to determine whether to grant interim injunctive relief to restrain the removal of the child, X, from the Commonwealth of Australia and to prevent any change to her usual day-to-day residence. Additionally, the court needed to consider the necessity of placing the parents and the child on a Family Law Watchlist and the surrender of passports. A further issue was the preparation of a report by a Family Consultant pursuant to Regulation 26 of the Family Law (Child Abduction Convention) Regulations 1986 (Cth) concerning the child's objections to being returned to the United Kingdom, the strength of any such objections, and the child's age and maturity to have her views considered.

By consent of the parties, Hogan J made a series of orders. These included injunctions restraining both parents from removing the child from Australia and from changing her usual place of residence. The court also ordered the surrender of all relevant passports and directed that the names of the parents and the child be placed on the Family Law Watchlist for two years. Crucially, the court ordered the preparation of a Regulation 26 report to assess the child's views on returning to the United Kingdom, with specific criteria to be addressed by the Family Consultant. The court also set a timetable for the filing and service of documents and listed the application for a further hearing.