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Moving or travelling with children

Know your options before moving or travelling with your children.

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Moving or travelling with your children after separation can feel complex. It is important to think about how this may affect your current parenting arrangements.

Before you move or travel, check any parenting orders, including consent orders, and any parenting plans.

Families come in all shapes and sizes. This information applies to parents and other people who are involved in the care of children. For example, grandparents, relatives and kinship carers.

Before you move or travel

Check your parenting arrangements

Parenting arrangements can be recorded in different ways, including:

  • an informal agreement
  • a written parenting plan
  • parenting orders made by a court, including consent orders.

Informal agreements and parenting plans are not legally enforceable. Parenting orders, including consent orders, are legally enforceable. This means that both parents (and others, if involved) must follow the order.

Existing parenting orders may limit where your children can live or travel. Some orders prevent children from leaving a state or territory, even for a holiday.

Read the orders carefully. Get legal advice if you are not sure what they mean.

Also consider how your plans to move or travel may affect:

  • the children’s school or childcare
  • travel times and changeovers
  • the children’s time with the other parent or carer
  • relationships with other important people.

For example, a longer journey may make weekday visits or school changeovers difficult.

Preparing for the move or travel

Talk to the other parent or carer

If it is not safe to contact the other parent or carer, get legal advice and family violence support. If you or the children are in immediate danger, call 000.

If it is safe, talk to the other parent or carer as early as possible.

Give them enough information to understand the plans and how they may affect existing arrangements.

For travel, include:

  • the dates and destination
  • transport details, including flight details if relevant
  • accommodation details
  • contact information
  • when the children will return.

This information can help everyone decide whether the plans will work

Record your agreement

If you agree, record the new arrangements in writing.

You can make or update your parenting arrangements to record the decision. For information about making parenting arrangements, go to Parenting arrangements and child contact.

Tip: You can use a free online tool called amica to help you make arrangements and record what you decide.

Use family dispute resolution

If you cannot agree, family dispute resolution services may help you work through the issues.

Family dispute resolution is a type of mediation for separated families.

In most cases, you must try family dispute resolution before applying to the court for a decision.

A family dispute resolution practitioner may decide that mediation is not appropriate. There are also exceptions, including some urgent cases or cases involving family violence or child abuse.

For more information, go to Using family dispute resolution.

Apply to the court

If family dispute resolution is not suitable, or you still cannot agree, you can apply to the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia.

You can ask the court to make orders:

  • allowing the children to move or travel
  • stopping another person from relocating the children
  • preventing the children from travelling.

The court will decide what arrangements are in the children’s best interests. To learn more about what this means, go to What the court considers when making a parenting order.

A court decision may take many months and, in some cases, years.

There is no guarantee that the court will allow the proposed move or travel.

Visit the court’s website for more information.

Overseas travel and passports

The steps above apply to overseas travel, but there are other things you will need to consider.

If parenting orders exist, or parenting proceedings have started, extra rules apply.

Do not take or send a child overseas unless you have:

  • authenticated written consent from both parents or carers named in the parenting order
  • a court order that allows the travel.

Authenticated written consent must be signed and witnessed by an authorised person. Visit the court’s website for more information.

Apply for a child’s passport

To apply for an Australian passport for a child, you usually need consent from every person with parental responsibility.

This could be both parents, or carers with parental responsibility such as grandparents.

You may not need full consent if a court order allows the child to:

  • have an Australian passport
  • travel internationally
  • live or spend time with someone overseas.

If you cannot get full consent and do not have a court order, you can ask the Australian Passport Office to assess the application under special circumstances.

This process can take longer. The Australian Passport Office may decide not to issue the passport.

For more information, go to Parental consent on the Australian Passport Office’s website.

Court conditions for overseas travel

If you ask the court to allow overseas travel, it may consider the risk that the children will not return to Australia.

The court may place conditions on the trip. For example, it may require someone to pay money as security.

Moving or travelling without agreement

Moving or travelling without agreement or a court order can have serious consequences.

The other parent or carer can apply to the court to:
• stop the children leaving
• have the children returned – this is called a recovery order.

If you move without agreement or a court order, the court may require you to return with the children while it decides the case.

If the move or travel breaches parenting orders, the court may impose penalties.

It is important to get legal advice so you understand how any decision may affect you and your children. For legal help and other support, go to Other support for parenting arrangements.

Moving to stay safe

Family violence and child abuse can make decisions about moving more urgent and complex. If you or your children are at risk, get urgent legal advice and support.

Safety concerns do not automatically change existing parenting orders. A lawyer can explain your options and help you take steps to protect yourself and the children.

If you or the children are in immediate danger, call the police on 000.

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