Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services and Wilson

The case involved the Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services as the applicant and Ms Wilson, the paternal grandmother, as the respondent. The dispute concerned the welfare and whereabouts of a child, K. The matter was heard by Kent J in the Family Court of Australia.

The court was required to determine whether to issue orders restraining the removal of the child, K, from Australia and to secure information regarding the child's and the respondent grandmother's current address or whereabouts. This involved considering the court's powers to protect a child and to gather necessary information for that purpose.

Kent J applied principles relating to the court's protective jurisdiction over children. The court issued an injunction restraining Ms Wilson and any other person from removing K from the Commonwealth of Australia until further order. Furthermore, the court exercised its powers under s 67M of the *Family Law Act 1975* to compel various entities, including real estate agencies, government departments, Telstra, and a child care centre, to provide information regarding the address or whereabouts of Ms Wilson and K. These orders were to remain in effect for one year, with specified entities required to search their records no more than once per month. The court also empowered law enforcement agencies to give effect to the injunction and placed the names of Ms Wilson and K on an All Ports Watch Alert System. Leave was granted for the Registrar to disclose the information obtained to the applicant's solicitor, a process server, and relevant central authorities.