KESTLE & ROLLAND

In the matter of Kestle & Rolland, the applicant, Mr Kestle, sought orders concerning the parental responsibility and living arrangements for three children, B, C, and D. The respondent father had failed to appear in court on multiple occasions and had not complied with previous court orders to deliver the children to the applicant. The proceedings were before Faulks DCJ.

The court was required to determine the appropriate orders regarding the long-term and day-to-day parental responsibility for the children, where the children would live, and the means by which their location could be secured. Additionally, the court considered the necessity of a recovery order and restraining orders to prevent the children's removal from Australia.

Faulks DCJ ordered that Mr Kestle have sole parental responsibility for the children, both on a long-term and day-to-day basis, and that the children live with him. A recovery order was issued, authorising the Australian Federal Police and state/territory police forces to take possession of the children and deliver them to Mr Kestle. The father was granted liberty to apply to the court regarding contact arrangements. Crucially, both Mr Kestle and Mr Rolland, their servants and agents, were restrained from removing the children from the Commonwealth of Australia, and the children themselves were restrained from leaving Australia. The Australian Federal Police were requested to place the children's names on the Airport Watch List for two years.