Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services and O’Shanahan

The Family Court of Australia, in the matter of *Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services & O’Shanahan*, considered an application by the Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services. The dispute concerned the location of the respondent mother, Ms O’Shanahan, and her child, Z, whose whereabouts were unknown. The applicant sought orders to facilitate the location of the respondent and child.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether to grant location and Commonwealth Information Orders pursuant to sections 67M and 67N of the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth). These orders were sought to obtain information from various government agencies, including the Department of Transport and Main Roads, Medicare Australia, the Department of Education Training and Employment, the Residential Tenancies Authority, and the Department of Queensland Health, to ascertain the whereabouts of Ms O’Shanahan and child Z.

Justice Kent found that a prima facie case had been established by the applicant based on the contents of the Form 4 application. Consequently, the court ordered that the Director General of the Department of Transport and Main Roads, the Secretary or General Manager of Medicare Australia, and the General Managers of the Department of Education Training and Employment, the Residential Tenancies Authority, and the Department of Queensland Health provide specified information to the Registrar of the Family Court of Australia. These orders were made for a period of one year, with specified limitations on the frequency of record searches by the agencies. Leave was also granted for the Registrar to disclose the obtained information to the applicant's solicitor, process servers, and relevant central authorities. The court further ordered that any information regarding actual or threatened violence to the child or a parent be provided simultaneously. The application was adjourned for further hearing after the respondent mother was located and served.