WHITE & ANDREWS

In the Family Court of Australia, Ms White (the mother) applied for leave to proceed with an application seeking the release of her daughter C's passport for international travel. The respondent, Mr Andrews (the father), was the other party to the proceedings. The mother sought to travel with the child to South East Asia between 17 and 29 September 2012, with her application requesting the passport be released from 12 September to 2 October 2012 to accommodate potential travel delays.

The court was required to determine whether to grant the mother leave to proceed with her application, given that she had filed an "Application in a Case" when no other proceedings were on foot, and whether to dispense with formal service of the application on the father, who resided in the USA. A further issue was whether to order the release of the child's passport to the mother for the proposed overseas travel, notwithstanding prior orders requiring the passport to be held by the court registry pending further order or the father's written consent.

Justice Macmillan, applying the court's inherent jurisdiction to control its proceedings, was satisfied that the father was aware of the application and the proposed travel, despite service not being effected in strict accordance with the Family Law Regulations 1984 (Cth). The court noted that the father had communicated his awareness of the hearing and his objection to the passport release, but had not provided any cogent reasons to refuse the application. The mother's evidence indicated that the father had not spent time in person with the child since August 2011, and that this was the fifth occasion she had sought passport release for similar travel.

The court granted the mother leave to proceed with her application and ordered the release of the child's passport to her from 12 September 2012 for the specified travel period. The mother was directed to serve a copy of the order on the father by prepaid post to his US address and by email. The mother's Application in a Case was otherwise dismissed.