Being Afraid That My Partner Will Take My Children Overseas

You can consider placing your child on the Airport Watchlist: Placing your child on an Airport Watchlist will alert the police if someone tries to take the child out of Australia and will stop them from leaving. An application can be processed quickly if there is a real danger that your child may be taken out of the country without your permission. However:

• You must have a parenting order or court order in place or have filed an application with the court to limit the child’s travel.
• Once your child’s name is on the watchlist, neither parent can take the child out of Australia. Taking your child’s name off the watchlist can only be done through the courts, which may take some time. For more information, and to apply, please download the Airport Watch List Order Kit from Victoria Legal Aid.

Passport Surrender Order: If the other parent is holding your child’s passport and you are worried it might be used to take the child out of the country, you can apply for a passport surrender order from the court. This order will require the other parent to give your child’s passport back if there is an immediate risk of the child being taken out of Australia.

If you want to prevent an Australian passport being issued for a child, you can:

• Lodge a Child Alert Request at any Australian Passport Office, or
• Apply to the Court for a child alert order.

A Child Alert warns Australian authorities that someone might try to get an Australian passport for a child without the right permissions. If a Child Alert is active and someone applies for the child’s passport, the government will let you know. However, this may not prevent the passport being issued. A Child Alert made through a Passport Office lasts for 12 months. If ordered by a court, it stays in place until the child turns 18 or the court says otherwise.

Miscommunication between parents is often the reason children are not returned on time after travelling overseas. But if you cannot contact the other parent, or they refuse to return the child, you can take steps to find your child and get them back.

If you think the child is still in Australia:

• Contact Victoria Police and ask them to do a welfare check to make sure the child is safe. Call 000 if you think the child is in immediate danger, otherwise you can contact your local police station on 131 444.
• If you do not know where your child is, you can ask the court to issue a location order, which will require the other parent to tell the court where your child is.
• You can also apply for a recovery order, which will require the other parent to return your child.

If you think the child is overseas, contact the police as above. Locating your child and having them returned will depend on where the child is:

• Hague Convention countries: TheHague Convention is an agreement between certain countries that helps return children to their home country if a parent takes them overseas without permission. This means that there are international rules that can help to bring the child back to Australia. You have 12 months from the date the child was taken to apply under the Hague Convention.
• Non-Hague Convention countries: If the child is in a country that is not part of the Hague Convention, that country does not have any legal obligation to help return the child. You may need to explore other options, such as mediation or contacting the embassy for help, but there is no guarantee that you will receive support. If the other parent has ties to a Non-Hague Convention country and you are worried that they may attempt to take the child, the best course of action may be to place your child on the airport watchlist.