I have UK citizenship. My wife is Australian. She has received a document which states her NIE number. Her residency card will follow within 3 months. We will be travelling in the near future at which time she will actually have been in Spain for 3 months. This does not appear to be a problem for the Spanish authorities but will she be able to travel in Italy and France assuming the Immigration in those countries actually determine that she has been in Spain for more than 3 months ie will they accept the current document or are they likely to require the residency card?

ollieg,
what do you mean when you say travel to italy or france? tourism or immigation?

Tourism

ollieg,
australian passport holders do not need visas to enter the schengen area.
coming from outside this area, they are given a three monds upon entry
see this
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_requirements_for_Australian_citizens#European_Union_.28EU.29
having the eu family residence card helps ease passage if for some reason the immigration officer decides to be strict.
but traveling within the schengen area is like traveling around spain. in short, it is like a local area.

Thank you. However all the information I have states that the Shengen countries behave as one region ie you can spend 3 months in the region and not 3 months in each country in the region. It would be great if this is not the case?