DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITIES, CHILD SAFETY AND DISABILITY SERVICES & CANNING

This matter concerned an application by the Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services (the Applicant) regarding two children, J and R, and their mother, Ms Canning (the Respondent Mother). The dispute involved the children's residence, their travel arrangements to New Zealand for contact with their father, Mr T, and related financial matters, including child support. The case was heard by Kent J.

The court was required to determine the terms of orders concerning the children's welfare and their relationship with both parents. Specifically, the court needed to decide whether to discharge previous orders, whether to remove the children and their mother from an All Ports Watch Alert System, and the conditions under which the children could travel to New Zealand to spend time with their father. Further issues included the payment of travel costs for the children, the cessation of child support payments, and the method of communication between the father and the children.

Kent J ordered the discharge of several paragraphs of previous orders made on 28 August 2012. The court directed that the children and the Respondent Mother be removed from the All Ports Watch Alert System, and that their passports be released to the Respondent Mother. The children were to continue residing with the Respondent Mother in Australia. The court also made detailed provisions for the children to travel to New Zealand for contact with their father, specifying dates and durations for such visits, and stipulating that the father would be responsible for the children's travel costs from March 2013 onwards, in lieu of child support payments. The father was ordered to pay child support until 31 March 2013, and both parties were to settle the details of travel costs and child support through a binding agreement. The father was also ordered to speak with the children weekly and to spend time with them if he travelled to Australia, as agreed by the parents.