Goh and Trinh

In the matter of *Goh and Trinh*, Judicial Registrar Johnston of the Federal Circuit Court of Australia made orders concerning the welfare of a child. The dispute involved the applicant husband, Mr Goh, and the respondent wife, Ms Trinh, regarding the child's location and parental responsibilities.

The court was required to determine the existing parental responsibility arrangements for the child, specifically whether sole parental responsibility had been conferred on the mother, and whether the mother had the right to remove the child from Australia without the father's consent. The court also considered the circumstances of the child's departure from Australia.

Judicial Registrar Johnston applied section 61C(1) of the *Family Law Act 1975*, which presumes shared parental responsibility in the absence of contrary orders. The court found that no Australian court had made orders conferring sole parental responsibility on the mother or permitting her to remove the child from Australia without the father's consent. The court noted that the mother had taken the child from Australia on 17 March 2008 without the father's consent or a court order.

Consequently, the court ordered that the child be restrained from being removed from the Commonwealth of Australia, with a request to the Australian Federal Police to place the child on the Airport Watchlist. The court also declared the existing shared parental responsibility and the circumstances of the child's departure. Further orders were made for the father to obtain details of the child's passport and a copy of the mother's departure card, and the proceedings were adjourned.