Commonwealth Consolidated Regulations

FAMILY LAW REGULATIONS 1984 - REG 23

  (1)   Subregulation (1A) applies if:

  (a)   the Secretary receives:

  (i)   from a prescribed overseas jurisdiction a certified copy of an overseas child order that was made in that jurisdiction; and

  (ii)   a certificate signed by an officer of a court or by some other authority in that jurisdiction relating to the order and containing a statement that the order is, at the date of the certificate, enforceable in that jurisdiction; and

  (b)   there are reasonable grounds for believing that any of the following persons is ordinarily resident in, present in, or proceeding to, Australia:

  (i)   the child who is the subject of the order;

  (ii)   a parent of that child;

  (iii)   a person having the right to have the child live with him or her, or the right of custody of or access to the child, or the right to spend time or communicate with the child.

  (1A)   The Secretary must send the documents mentioned in paragraph   (1)(a) to a relevant Registrar.

  (2)   When the relevant Registrar of a court receives from the Secretary the documents referred to in subregulation   (1), the relevant Registrar shall register the order by filing in the court a certified copy of the order and the certificate relating to the order and noting the fact and the date of the registration on the certified copy.

  (3)   Where an overseas child order has been registered in accordance with subregulation   (2), the order may, on the application of the relevant Registrar of a court or a person interested in the order (including the child who is the subject of the order), be registered concurrently in any other court having jurisdiction under the Act.

  (4)   A certificate by a court that the order has been registered in that court in accordance with subregulation   (2) shall be sufficient evidence to enable a concurrent registration to be made.

  (5)   An overseas child order registered in accordance with this regulation is enforceable throughout Australia until the registration (including a concurrent registration) has been cancelled.

  (6)   Where it appears to a court that the documents referred to in subregulation   (1) have been received by the court other than from the Secretary, the court may, if all other requirements of subregulation   (1) are satisfied, register the order.

  (7)   Where a court exercising jurisdiction under section   70J of the Act substantially varies the order, the relevant Registrar of the court shall forthwith forward to the court or to the appropriate authority in the prescribed overseas jurisdiction:

  (a)   3 certified copies of the order of the court and the reasons for the order;

  (b)   a copy of the depositions; and

  (c)   such further material as the court directs.

  (8)   This regulation does not prevent a court that has jurisdiction under the Act from receiving evidence of an order made in an overseas jurisdiction (whether or not the jurisdiction is a prescribed overseas jurisdiction), being an order that:

  (a)   deals with the person with whom a child is supposed to live, spend time or communicate; or

  (b)   provides for a person to have custody of, or access to, a child.