JALLOH & AKERELE

In the matter of *Jalloh & Akerele*, Aldridge J of the Federal Circuit Court of Australia made orders concerning the welfare and contact arrangements for two children, P Jalloh and C Jalloh. The dispute involved the parents, Mr Jalloh (the father) and Ms Akerele (the mother), and their respective rights and responsibilities regarding the children.

The court was required to determine several issues, including the primary residence of the children, the nature and extent of the father's contact with them, and measures to prevent the children's removal from Australia. Specifically, the court addressed the father's ability to send gifts and cards, attend school events, and receive school-related information, while also imposing restrictions on direct contact. Furthermore, the court considered the children's names and the necessity of family mediation.

Aldridge J applied principles of family law concerning the best interests of the children. The court ordered that the children were to live with their mother, pending further order. The father was permitted to send cards and gifts via an intermediary, attend school functions without direct contact, and receive school reports and photographs at his expense. Crucially, both parents were restrained from removing the children from the Commonwealth of Australia until a specified date, with a request for the Australian Federal Police to place the children's names on the Family Law Watchlist. The court also ordered that the children retain their current names and that family mediation be arranged once the elder child reached a certain age. The matter was subsequently stood over for further directions.