SIEBERT & MAILE

The case of *Siebert & Maile* concerned an appeal from orders made by the Magistrates’ Court at B Town. The appeal was brought by the mother against ex parte recovery orders and orders for change of residence made on 11 September 2018. The court considered whether the Magistrates’ Court retained residual power to make injunctive orders, even though substantive parenting proceedings had been transferred to the Federal Circuit Court of Australia.

The primary legal issues before the court were the appropriateness of making orders for change of residence on an ex parte basis, and the validity and effect of the recovery order made by the Magistrates’ Court. The court also had to determine the residual jurisdiction of the Magistrates’ Court to make injunctive orders in circumstances where the substantive parenting proceedings had been transferred to a federal court.

Cronin J found that the orders for change of residence made on an ex parte basis were inappropriate. Consequently, the court discharged the orders made by the Magistrates’ Court on 11 September 2018. The court also discharged the recovery order and cancelled the warrant to recover. The court then made new parenting orders, including that the children live with the mother and spend time with the father on alternate weekends, with changeovers to occur outside the B Town Police Station. The court also ordered that the children be independently represented by a child representative and that the mother return the children to the B Town area to comply with the new parenting orders, restraining her from removing them from that area until further order.