White & Andrews (No 2)

This matter concerned an application by Ms White (the applicant mother) against Mr Andrews (the respondent father) in the Family Court of Australia. The dispute centred on the mother's request for her daughter's passport to be released for overseas travel during the Christmas school holidays. This was a recurring issue, with the mother having previously made multiple applications for the child's passport. The final parenting orders, made in 2007, stipulated that the child live with the mother and spend time with the father during specific periods, including the long summer holidays. However, the father had been residing in the United States since August 2011 and had not spent time with the child since that date.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether to grant the mother leave to proceed ex parte with her application for the release of the child's passport. A further issue was whether to suspend or vary existing orders concerning the child's passport and the father's time with the child, particularly in light of the father's relocation to the United States and his stated intention not to exercise his time with the child in Australia during the upcoming holidays. The court also considered the mother's application to discharge the order requiring the passport to be held by the court.

Justice Macmillan granted the mother leave to proceed ex parte with her application. The court reasoned that the father, despite being aware of the proposed travel, had not indicated an intention to exercise his time with the child in Australia, nor had he sought to vary the existing orders to facilitate alternative arrangements for his time with the child. Given the father's absence from Australia and his lack of engagement with the parenting orders, the court found no risk of the child not returning to Australia. Consequently, the court ordered the suspension of a specific paragraph of the existing order, directed the Registry Manager to release the child's passport to the mother for the proposed trip, and varied another paragraph to require the mother to return the passport by a specified date. The court also ordered that the father be served with the mother's applications and the court's order by post and email.

The court adjourned the mother's Initiating Application and her Application in a Case for further hearing, with directions for service on the respondent father. The court noted that publication of the judgment under the pseudonym White & Andrews had been approved by the Chief Justice.