Katic and Katic

In the Family Court of Australia, Ms Katic (the wife) sought to discharge an interim order made on 28 May 2012, which restrained both parents from removing their 13-year-old son, C, from Australia. Mr Katic (the husband) opposed this application. The Independent Children’s Lawyer supported the discharge of the order. The dispute arose within broader parenting proceedings that were largely resolved, leaving only the Airport Watch Order as the outstanding issue.

The court was required to determine whether it was in the child's best interests to permit international travel without the consent of the father, thereby discharging the existing injunction. This involved considering the child's views, the strength of the relationship between the child and the father, the potential for the mother to relocate internationally, and the overall risk to the child's welfare. The court also had to apply the principles of the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth), particularly the paramountcy of the child's best interests.

Justice Cronin reasoned that the child, C, had consistently expressed a strong aversion to contact with his father, a position supported by a family consultant's report and acknowledged by the husband. Given the non-existent relationship and the child's clear and cogent views, the court found no justification for continuing to restrict his international travel. Applying the principles from *Line and Line* and *Gin and Hing*, the court assessed the risk of the mother relocating permanently, finding it to be modest and concluding that the wife had sufficient ties to Australia and no sinister motive for international travel. The court emphasised that the child's best interests, as mandated by section 60CA of the *Family Law Act 1975*, were the paramount consideration.

The court ordered that paragraph 6 of the orders made on 28 May 2012 be discharged, permitting the child C to travel internationally without the consent of the husband. The Australian Federal Police were also directed to remove the child's name from the Airport Watch List.