Location and recovery of children

Where a child has been wrongfully removed from the care of a person, that person may make an application for a recovery order. A recover order is an order authorising Federal, State and Territory police to recover and return the child to a person specified in the order.

Where a child has been wrongfully removed from the care of a person and that person does not know the location to which the child has been removed, then that person may apply for a location order. A location order is an order requiring a person or a Commonwealth entity (eg, common Commonwealth entities include Centrelink, the Child Support Agency or the Department of Human Services) to provide the court with information regarding the child's location. Such an order would be made in circumstances where the third person or the government entity is likely to have information, or to receive information in the future, which would provide the location of the child.

In Western Australia the State’s Family Court also has the ability to make a State information order requiring a State government entity to provide information to the Court about a child’s location. A common example is the Department of Education for information about a child’s enrolment or attendance at school.

See Location and recovery of children.