Family Law – International Parental Child Abduction
Given the multicultural society in which we live, it has become more frequent that children are being removed by a parent from the country in which they reside and taken to another country in which their parent was born and may still have relatives and/or friends.
An international treaty has been formed to enable a parent of a child/children wrongfully removed from the country in which they reside to request the child/ren’s return. This treaty is known as “The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction”. Pursuant to that treaty if the necessary criteria are satisfied then a child/children who are wrongfully removed or retained by a parent,will be returned as quickly as possible to the country in which they reside so that issues surrounding parenting matters can be determined by the Courts in that resident country. Unfortunately if your child/ren is/are taken to a country which is not a party to the Convention then you will not be able to utilize the remedies offered by the Convention for return of your child/ren.
To make an application for return of your child/ren in accordance with the Convention, the following conditions must be met:
>> Your child/ren must be under 16;
>> You must be the “live with” parent (the parent with custody of the child/ren);
>> Your child/ren must have been habitually resident in Australia immediately before your child was taken overseas;
>> Your child/ren must have been taken to a country which is a party to the Convention;
>> Your child/ren must have been wrongfully removed from Australia (without your prior consent or by court order).
The parent who removed the child/ren may oppose your application to have the child/ren returned on the following grounds:
>> The child has been living outside of Australia for over 12 months and is settled in the new environment;
>> The child was not habitually resident in Australia at the time of removal;
>> The parent making the application was not the “live with” parent at the time of removal;
>> The parent making the application gave their prior consent to the removal;
>> The child would be exposed to a grave risk of physical harm, psychological harm or some other form of harm if returned to Australia;
>> The child objects to being returned and is of an age and maturity to justify his or her views being taken into account.
Accordingly if your child/ren are removed from Australia without your consent or do not return to Australia by the date agreed then you must take immediate action so that there is no delay (any delay may later be seen as lack of concern).
At LAC Lawyers we can assist parents to prepare applications for return of a child/children to Australia under the convention. We can also assist parents in taking proactive steps to ensure that their child/ren is/are not removed from Australia without their consent.
These steps may include the following:
>> Obtaining a Court order to prohibit the removal of the child from Australia;
>> Obtaining a parenting order which directs the Australian Federal Police to put the child/ren’s name(s) on the Airport Watch List;
>> Obtaining an order with respect to the child/ren’s passport.
Please contact us to assist you with any of the above applications.
If you are interested to know something more about International Parental Child Abduction and Family Lawyers then please visit our website www.laclawyers.com.au
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