Director-General, Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services and Delany (No 2)

In the Supreme Court of Queensland, Kent J presided over a dispute between the Director-General, Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services (the applicant) and Ms Delany (the respondent mother) concerning the child, B. The core of the disagreement involved the child's habitual residence and the respondent mother's actions in relation to the child's presence in Australia.

The court was required to determine whether the child, B, should be returned to the United States of America, and to make consequential orders to facilitate this return. This involved considering the respondent mother's obligations and restrictions concerning the child's departure from Australia and the management of her own travel documents.

Kent J ordered that the child, B, be returned to the United States of America by 11 September 2015. To effectuate this, the respondent mother was restrained from removing the child from Australia or changing the child's usual place of residence. The names of both the mother and child were to be retained on the Family Law Watchlist, with provisions for their removal upon confirmation of travel arrangements. The court also mandated that the respondent mother pay all expenses associated with the child's return and required the applicant to make an International Child Protection Notification to Texas Child Protective Services. Liberty to apply was granted to the applicant for further orders to facilitate the child's return, consistent with Australia's obligations under the Family Law (Child Abduction Convention) Regulations 1986. All other applications were dismissed.