HOMEMissing Children
Missing Children
There are occasions when a parent involved in family law proceedings removes a child from their usual residence and prevents the other parent from having (court-ordered) contact with the child because they cannot be located.
In these situations, the other party (usually a parent) who is involved in the proceedings can make an application to the Court seeking a recovery order.
Should the recovery order fail to lead to the recovery of the child, an application can be made to the Court seeking a publication order. In general terms, publication orders allow photographs and certain details of a party and case to be published, with the aim of locating the missing child. Without a publication order, section 121 of the Family Law Act prevents the publication of details of a case that would lead to the identification of a party or witness involved in family law proceedings.
To view photographs and details of current cases in which children are missing and a publication order has been issued, please refer to:
Missing children – Publication orders made in the Family Court
Missing children – Publication orders made in the Federal Circuit Court
Is your child missing?
If you believe your child has been taken by a family member and efforts to find the child have failed, you should seek immediate legal advice.
Your lawyer may recommend seeking a court order for the recovery of the child. In some instances, your lawyer will recommend seeking a publication order.
Recovery orders
The court may make a recovery order if your child has been taken from you or has not been returned to your care. A recovery order can require the return of a child or authorise a person who is named in the order, such as the police to take appropriate action to recover a child and deliver the child to you.
You can apply for a recovery order if you have been granted a parenting order or you are a person concerned with the care, welfare and development of the child.
If the Court makes an order for the recovery of a child, the applicant will need to complete the following Recovery Order Information Sheet.
Publication orders
Publication Orders issued by the Family Court and Federal Circuit Court enable the media to report limited details and publish photographs of missing children and the person they are believed to be with (usually one of the parents involved in a family law dispute).
They relate to people who are involved in a parenting case that is before the Family Court or the Federal Circuit Court. As each case is different and the terms of publication orders can vary, journalists are advised to contact the Court’s Media and Public Affairs Manager prior to publishing details of a case involving publication order.
Legal advice
If your child is missing, you should seek legal advice before applying for a recovery order or a publication order.
You can get legal advice from a:
1 legal aid office
2 community legal centre, or
3 private law firm.
Court staff can help you with questions about court forms and the court process, but cannot give you legal advice.
For the media
Publication orders issued by the courts enable the media to report details and publish photographs of missing children and the person they are believed to be with. However, each case is different and the terms of publication orders can vary.
