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

The Director-General of the Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services applied to the Family Court of Australia for urgent injunctive relief concerning three children, L, J, and B, and their mother, Ms Tallulah. The Director-General sought to prevent the removal of the children from Australia and to restrain the mother from changing their usual place of residence.

The central legal issues before the Court were whether the Director-General had established a sufficient basis to justify the granting of interlocutory injunctions restraining the mother from removing the children from Australia and from changing their residence. The Court was also required to consider the appropriate orders to ensure the children's safety and welfare pending further determination of the proceedings.

Kent J granted the injunctions, ordering that the mother and any other person be restrained from removing the children from the Commonwealth of Australia and from changing their usual day-to-day residence. The Court empowered law enforcement agencies to give effect to these orders and directed that the mother and children's names be placed on the Family Law Watch List for two years. The mother was also ordered to surrender all current passports relating to herself and the children. The Court also set timelines for the filing of pleadings and affidavits and listed the matter for a hearing.