Parents may take their child away for a variety of reasons. Ultimately, the most important thing is the welfare of the child. If you are concerned that your child may be removed from Australia, you can take steps to prevent wrongful removal in the future by contacting DA Family Lawyers in Brisbane.

About The Hague Convention
The Hague Convention is the primary international agreement that is concerned with international child abduction. The Hague Convention is a process that allows a parent to seek to have their child returned to their home country. Another aspect of the convention is that it deals with issues of international child access.

Australia is a party to The Hague Convention. The purpose of the Convention is to discourage international parental child abduction and to ensure that children who are abducted or wrongfully retained are returned promptly to their country of habitual residence. The usual issues relevant to a parenting dispute are not relevant in Convention applications and court hearings.

The Convention allows you to seek the return of a child to Australia if the child has been taken from Australia to another Convention country without your agreement. The Convention also applies if the child was taken temporarily to a Convention country with your consent, for example, to visit relatives or for a contact visit, but has been retained in that country without your agreement (wrongfully retained). The Convention also allows parents to seek assistance in spending time with their children who live with another parent in a Convention country overseas.

The Convention only applies between countries that are parties to the Convention. These are known as Convention Countries. Australia is a signatory to the convention, along with many countries around the world.

Discover what countries are parties to The Hague Convention for the purpose of international child abduction.