Serrano and Ray

In the matter of *Serrano and Ray*, heard by Judge Young, the dispute concerned the care and protection of two children, [X] and [Y]. The court was presented with an email from the Department for Child Protection and noted that the parties and children were scheduled to attend a Child Inclusive Conference.

The court was required to determine the immediate living arrangements for the children, the father's access to the children's school, and the father's ability to present the child [Y] for psychological assessment concerning allegations of sexual abuse. Furthermore, the court needed to consider the appointment of an independent children's lawyer and the provision of relevant information by the South Australian Police Department.

The court ordered that the children be returned to the mother's care immediately and authorised the mother to collect them from school. The father was restrained from attending the school and from interfering with the children's delivery to the mother. Crucially, the father was also restrained from presenting child [Y] to any psychologist or medical practitioner for the purpose of eliciting or facilitating disclosures of sexual abuse, with any further disclosures to be reported to the SA Police and/or the Department for Child Protection. An independent children's lawyer was appointed pursuant to s 68L of the *Family Law Act 1975*, with parties' solicitors to forward relevant documents to facilitate this appointment. The South Australian Police Department was also ordered to provide the court with reports and findings concerning child abuse or family violence allegations involving the parties and children, pursuant to s 69ZW of the *Family Law Act 1975*. The matter was adjourned for further directions.