Director-General, Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services and Small-Parsons

The case of *Director-General, Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services & Small-Parsons* [2014] FamCA 158 involved an application made under the Family Law (Child Abduction Convention) Regulations 1986, which give effect to the Hague Convention. The applicant was the Director-General, Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services, acting on behalf of the children's father, and the respondent was the children's mother, Ms Small-Parsons. The dispute concerned the potential abduction of two children, D and N, from Australia.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether interim orders should be made to preserve the status quo pending the final determination of the proceedings. Specifically, the court was required to consider whether a prima facie case had been established for the return of the children to New Zealand, as contemplated by the Hague Convention, and to make appropriate orders to prevent their removal from Australia.

Justice Kent, sitting in the Family Court of Australia in Brisbane, found that the material filed in support of the application established a prima facie case for the return of the children to New Zealand. Consequently, the court made interim orders restraining the respondent mother from removing the children from the Commonwealth of Australia and from changing their usual place of residence without prior written notification to the applicant. The court also ordered that the mother and children's names be placed on the Family Law Watch List at all international departure points for a period of two years, and that their passports be surrendered. The matter was then set down for final hearing.