Changes to passport requirements for children

A number of changes have been made to the legislation that governs passports for children, in particular the consent required for the issuing of travel documents for children. This has obvious importance in relation to family law.

The Passports Legislation Amendment (Integrity) Act 2015 came into force on 8 October 2015 and the new Australian Passports Determination 2015 commenced on 1 October 2015.

Section 11 of the Passports Act has been amended to change the definition of "parental responsibility" to better reflect that used in the Family Law Act. The amendments provide that a person who does not have parental responsibility for a child, even if they spend time with a child in accordance with a Court Order, is not required to consent to the child having an Australian travel document (e.g. a passport).

Other amendments include:

·    that the word "locating" has been removed from the special circumstances where it is not possible to contact the other parent – e.g. this resolves the issue of when you can locate the other parent but not get in contact with them;

·    the requirement, if the other parent is missing, for the other parent to be missing and presumed dead has been modified to missing and/or presumed dead – removing the requirement to produce a death certificate; and

·    the Department may disclose information relating to Court Orders or proceedings to verify if the Orders are correct, remain valid and no other orders have been made or are pending.