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AUSTRALIAN PASSPORTS ACT 2005 - SECT 11

Reasons relating to child without parental consent or court order for travel

  (1)   The Minister must not issue an Australian travel document to a child unless:

  (a)   each person who has parental responsibility for the child consents to the child having an Australian travel document; or

  (b)   an order of a court of the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory permits:

  (i)   the child to have an Australian travel document; or

  (ii)   the child to travel internationally; or

  (iii)   the child to live or spend time with another person who is outside Australia.

  (2)   Subsection   (1) does not prevent the Minister from issuing an Australian travel document to a child if:

  (a)   circumstances specified in a Minister's determination as special circumstances exist; or

  (b)   the Minister is satisfied that the child's welfare (physical or psychological) would be adversely affected if the child were not able to travel internationally; or

  (c)   the Minister is satisfied that:

  (i)   the child urgently needs to travel internationally because of a family crisis; and

  (ii)   if there is a person who has parental responsibility for the child and who has not consented to the child having an Australian travel document--it is not possible to contact that person within a reasonable period; or

  (d)   in the case of a child who is outside Australia--the child departed Australia less than 12 months before the application for the Australian travel document was made and the Minister considers that an Australian travel document should be issued to enable the child's return to Australia.

  (3)   If the Minister refuses to issue an Australian travel document to a child, the Minister may declare that he or she is refusing to exercise the discretion under subsection   (2) because the matter should be dealt with by a court.

  (5)   For the purposes of this section, a person has parental responsibility for a child if, and only if:

  (a)   the person:

  (i)   is the child's parent (including a person who is presumed to be the child's parent because of a presumption (other than in section   69Q) in Subdivision D of Division   12 of Part   VII of the Family Law Act 1975 ); and

  (ii)   has not ceased to have parental responsibility for the child because of an order made under the Family Law Act 1975 ; or

  (aa)   the person:

  (i)   is the child's parent (including a person who is presumed to be the child's parent because of a presumption (other than in section   189) in Subdivision   3 of Division   11 of Part   5 of the Family Court Act 1997 (WA)); and

  (ii)   has not ceased to have parental responsibility for the child because of an order made under that Act; or

  (b)   under a parenting order:

  (i)   the child is to live with the person; or

  (ii)   the person has parental responsibility for the child; or

  (d)   the person has guardianship or custody of, or has parental responsibility for, the child under a law of the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory.

Note:   The presumptions in the Family Law Act 1975 and the Family Court Act 1997 (WA) include a presumption arising from a court finding that a person is the child's parent, and a presumption arising from a man executing an instrument under law acknowledging that he is the father of the child.



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