2.1Special circumstances

2.1 Special circumstances

(1) For paragraph 11(2)(a) of the Australian Passports Act, subject to subsection (2), each of the circumstances mentioned in subsection (3) is a special circumstance in which the Minister may issue a passport to a child even though a person who has parental responsibility for the child (the non‑consenting parent) has not provided his or her consent to the child travelling internationally. (2) Subsection (1) does not apply if the Minister has been provided with court documents demonstrating that there are proceedings before a Commonwealth, State or Territory court that may affect: (a) the rights of the child to travel internationally; or (b) who has parental responsibility for the child.

Note: For the purposes of section 11 of the Australian Passports Act, parental responsibility has the meaning given by subsection 11(5) of the Australian Passports Act.

(3) The circumstances are as follows: (a) where the application is made by or on behalf of the child, neither the applicant nor the Minister has been able to locate or contact the non‑consenting parent for a reasonable period; (b) the non‑consenting parent is missing and presumed dead; (c) the non‑consenting parent is medically incapable of providing consent; (d) there has been no contact (including contact in person or by telephone, mail or e‑mail) between the child and the non‑consenting parent for a substantial period before the application is made; (f) the non‑consenting parent: (i) is not an Australian citizen; and (ii) separated from the person whose consent has been obtained before that person arrived in Australia; and (iii) has not had contact with the child since the child’s arrival in Australia; (g) a family violence order has been issued against the non‑consenting parent; (h) if the child is outside Australia—there is evidence of family violence; (i) an order of a court in a country that, under the Family Law (Child Abduction Convention) Regulations 1986, is a convention country, permits the child to travel internationally; (j) in the case of a child who is outside Australia—the Minister considers that there is a need for the child to travel internationally; (k) an order of a State or Territory court, made under a child welfare law, grants parental responsibility or guardianship of the child to: (i) a parent of the child other than the non‑consenting parent; or (ii) a person other than a parent of the child. (4) In this section, child welfare law, family violence and family violence order have the same meaning as in the Family Law Act 1975. (5) In paragraph (3)(i), the reference to an order of a court permitting a child to travel internationally includes an order of a court permitting the issue of a passport to the child.