Legal Question in Family Law in Australia

Re: visitation rights for overseas parent

1. It is possible for the Court to compel production of a passport even if one parent refuses to co-operate. The passport is usually then held by the Court Registry until such time as Court ordered contact/travel, etc is to take place.

2. Custody (or Residence as it is referred to here) is never really finalised beyond all further reconsideration. If a Court has never determined the issue of Residence, then either parent can apply at any time. They will have to convince the Court why it should depart from the status quo. If the Court has previously determined the issue of residence, then the parent seeking change would also have to show that there had been a significant change in circumstances since the last Court hearing

3. The issue of residence where one parent is not directly supervising the child is not black and white. It depends upon why the child is not being supervised by that parent, and who is looking after the child in the aprent's absence.

4. A child's wishes will be taken into account amongst the other factors that determine where that child will live. However, the wishes of a child in the 6-10 age bracket would not be given the same weight as an older child. The Court would also look for any reasons why the child is expressing those particular wishes. It may be that the child tells each parent what the child thinks that that parent may want to hear, or that the child percieves there to be some reward if the child goes to live with the other parent. On the other hand the child may have an understanding of the factors that would best address the child's needs and be saying so. It is a question which has to be looked at on a case by case basis.