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

In *Director-General, Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services and Small-Parsons (No. 2)* [2014] FamCA 281, Kent J of the Family Court of Australia considered an application for the return of two children to New Zealand under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. The applicant sought the return of the children, D and N, to New Zealand, while the respondent mother, Ms Small-Parsons, resisted this application.

The central legal issues before the court were whether the children were habitually resident in New Zealand, whether the requesting parent had consented to the children remaining in Australia, and whether the return of the children to New Zealand ought to be delayed. The court was required to determine if the factual circumstances met the criteria for an order for the summary return of children under the Convention.

Kent J reasoned that the evidence established the children's habitual residence in New Zealand prior to their removal to Australia. The court found that the respondent mother had not established that the requesting parent had consented to the children remaining in Australia, nor had she demonstrated any grounds for delaying their return. Applying the principles of the Hague Convention, the court concluded that the children should be returned to New Zealand.

Consequently, the court ordered the return of the children to New Zealand by a specified date, with provisions for their travel and the restraint of the respondent mother from removing them from Australia pending their departure. The court also made orders regarding the retention of passports, the involvement of the Australian Federal Police and the Marshal of the Family Court, and the payment of expenses by the respondent mother.