NEWS

Federal Government to Consider Tightening of International Child Abduction Laws

Australia is a party to The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. This international treaty seeks to ensure that children who are wrongfully removed or wrongfully retained by their parent, will be returned to the country which they normally reside so that issues of parental responsibility can be addressed by the Courts in that country.

At present, under the current provisions of the Family Law Act 1975, in the event that children’s orders are made, or pending, parents are unable to remove the children from Australia without the written consent of the other parent, or an order from the Court. Criminal offences apply if this requirement is breached.

A draft Bill is expected to be prepared by the end of this year, to be introduced in the Federal Parliament in the first half of 2012. It is expected that the draft Bill will:

• include new criminal offences under the Family Law Act;
• extend the existing offences;
• allow the Australian Family Law Courts to stop child support payments for parents who have abducted their child overseas;
• provide for new information gathering powers for courts to locate children abducted from Australia;
• remove potential barriers for foreign courts to Order the return of children to Australia;
• give greater powers for the Australian Family Law Courts to require individuals or entities to provide information to the Commonwealth Central Authority (CCA) to assist in locating children wrongfully removed from or retained outside Australia; and
• add new defenses including fleeing from violence and protecting children from imminent harm.

In a Joint Media Release on 19 September 2011, the Attorney-General and the Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs announced the Gillard Government will introduce new measures to strengthen Australia’s Laws which deal with International Child Abduction. The Joint Media Release reports that:

“On average, two to three children are wrongfully removed from Australia or retained in another country every week by one of their parents,” said Mr McClelland.

Being forced to go through the experience of having your child taken away to another country is unimaginable for any parent.

Australia is a signatory to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, which provides a strong mechanism for lawfully seeking the return of abducted children.

We are proposing these measures to ensure our laws remain as effective as possible to maximise the prospect of the safe return of children who are abducted by a parent and taken overseas.

We want to strengthen the laws to stop children being abducted in the first place, improve the mechanisms to locate a child overseas and remove barriers so the child can be returned to Australia.”

We will continue to monitor the progress of the proposed Bill and advise of any further developments.

In the event that you and your child’s parents are unable to agree about whether your child should travel outside Australia, or should you have any questions about how the provisions relating to international travel presently affect you, please contact us.