International travel with children

Children are able to travel internationally with an accompanying parent provided they have passports and any necessary visa documents. However, a parent should not remove a child from Australia with the other parent’s consent.

A parent who is proposing to travel internationally with the children on holiday should notify the other parent as soon as possible of the intended travel destinations and dates. Copies of the children’s travel itineraries and contact details should be provided to the non-travelling parent before the travel occurs.

If a parent threatens to take the children to another country without the other parent’s consent, the non-consenting parent can make an urgent application to the Court seeking that the children’s names be placed on the Family Law Watchlist, or otherwise known as the ‘Airport Watchlist’. This will prevent the children from leaving Australia.

If a parent abducts a child to another country, the Court may order the child’s return to Australia, if that country is a signatory to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. However, the process can be expensive and slow, and there is no guarantee that orders for the children’s return to Australia will be made.

If a child is removed from Australia to a non-Hague Convention country, the parent in Australia is likely to have little recourse pursuing the child’s return in the Australian courts.

We recommend that you seek urgent legal advice from a family lawyer experienced in this area if you have any concerns about your children being removed from Australia without your consent. Book a free 10-minute chat with us today for urgent assistance. If there are no available times and the matter is urgent, please call our office on 9486 5269.