With international travel back on the cards after the COVID-19 border closures, many of us are planning trips overseas.
Unfortunately, with the good comes the bad and we are seeing an increase in international parental child abduction cases.
International parental child abduction occurs when one parent takes their child from their home country without the consent of the other parent or the Court.
Overholding is when there may have been agreement as to the child travelling overseas with one parent, but that parent has not returned the child and may be threatening to not return the child at all.
In these situations, we turn to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction which is a treaty signed by more than 100 countries worldwide. The Hague Convention sets out the process through which a parent can seek to have their child returned to their home country, but only if both the home country and host country are signatories to the Convention.
A list of countries that are party to the Convention can be found here.
Australia is a signatory to the Hague Convention.
In Australia, the Australian Central Authority (an agency within the Attorney-General’s Department) is responsible for administering the Hague Convention.
If a child has been removed from Australia the first step would be to notify the Australian Central Authority (“ACA”) and then to file a formal application. We recommend seeking legal assistance with this process to give yourself the best chance of success. The ACA will then assess the application and if accepted will notify their counterpart office in the child’s host country. Generally, that office will then contact the other parent to request that the child is returned voluntarily, and if the that parent refuses to co-operate then legal proceedings can be commenced in the host country by their local child welfare agency.
It is necessary to establish that the removal of the child is wrongful, and it is imperative to act quickly; if the application is made more than one year after removal the child may be considered “settled” in the host country. It is essential to obtain legal advice and assistance with an application to the ACA to give yourself, and your child, the best chance possible of having the application accepted.