Commonwealth Consolidated Acts

AUSTRALIAN PASSPORTS ACT 2005 - SECT 11

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

                     (a)  each person who has parental responsibility for the child consents to the child travelling internationally; or

                     (b)  an order of a court of the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory permits the child to travel internationally.

             (2)  Subsection (1) does not prevent the Minister from issuing an Australian passport 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 whose consent to the child travelling internationally has not been given--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 passport was made and the Minister considers that a passport should be issued to enable the child's return to Australia.

             (3)  If the Minister refuses to issue a passport 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.

Note:          For example, the Minister may make a declaration under this section if the persons who have parental responsibility for the child disagree about the child travelling internationally.

             (4)  For the purposes of subsection (1), a reference to:

                     (a)  a person consenting to a child travelling internationally includes a reference to a person consenting to the issue of an Australian passport to the child; or

                     (b)  an order of a court permitting a child to travel internationally includes a reference to an order permitting:

                              (i)  the issue of an Australian passport to the child; or

                             (ii)  contact outside Australia between the child and another person.

             (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

Note:       The presumptions in the Family Law Act 1975 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.

                     (b)  under a parenting order:

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

                             (ii)  the child is to spend time with the person; or

                            (iii)  the person is responsible for the child's long‑term or day‑to‑day care, welfare and development; or

                     (d)  the person is entitled to guardianship or custody of, or access to, the child under a law of the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory.