Abduction Recovery Order

The Family Law Act deals with Child Abduction and the making and enforcing of location and recovery orders. It enables a child’s whereabouts to be ascertained when a child has been abducted and the child returned to the person with whom the child is supposed to live. In most cases, an application for recovery of a child is made on an urgent interim and ex parte (unilateral) basis.

Typically, these situations arise where a child has not been returned following a visit to a parent and that parent may have gone into hiding. If this is the case, urgent action must be taken particularly if there is a chance the child will be removed from Australia.

A recovery order requires an abducted child to be returned to; a parent of the child, the person who has a parenting order that states where the child is to live or a person who has parental responsibility for the child.

Depending on the case and whether there are current or pending parenting orders will depend on the process you take. If your matter is before the court you will be required to file an Application in a Case to seek the recovery orders. If your matter is not before the court you will be required to file an Initiating Application seeking parenting orders simultaneous with applying for the recovery order.

It must be noted that the court is not a child recovery agency. If an order is made by the court to authorise an individual or group of persons to find, recover and deliver the child, then a copy of the order must be provided to the relevant person or persons. Typically, the order will be provided to the Australian Federal Police (AFP). The AFP are located in each capital city across Australia with some regional offices.

Once the child has been returned to the person provided for in the order, the court registry staff must be notified as soon as practicable that the child is in the correct care.

If the child is not able to be located through the recovery order, the court has the power to issue other orders, such as:

What is a Location order?

If a party is in breach of a parenting order and cannot be located, a court may make a location order.

What is a Commonwealth Information order?

Allows a Commonwealth Government Department, such as Centrelink, to provide the Court information about the child’s location and situation that is included in the systems and records of the department.

What is a Publication order

involves publishing through the media, information and photographs of the missing child and the person who allegedly has care of the child. However, each case is diverse, and the wording of the publication order can vary. Typically this is the last resort and legal advice should be sought.