Overseas Child Abduction Scheme

The Overseas Child Abduction Scheme funds the reasonable legal costs of your legal representation if you are the parent or guardian of a child who is being retained in another country, by the other parent or guardian, without your consent.

You can apply for funding to cover:

  • the overseas legal costs of obtaining a court order for the return of a child to Australia
  • flights for the return of a child to Australia
  • flights for people who are required to attend overseas legal proceedings or to escort a child back to Australia.

We cannot cover:

  • costs for access or visitation with a child
  • any Australian legal costs.

We will not usually provide funding if you:

  • can meet your legal costs without incurring serious financial difficulty
  • do not have reasonable prospects of having a child returned to Australia
  • are eligible for legal assistance in the overseas country.

We will not usually cover the cost of any legal fees or expenses incurred before you apply.

Eligibility

We can help if your child has been either:

  • removed from Australia by the other parent or guardian without your consent
  • retained outside Australia by the other parent or guardian without your consent.

We can only help if the child is less than 16 years old and was habitually resident in Australia immediately before the removal or retention.

How to apply

  1. Download and complete the Application Form for Legal Financial Assistance under the Overseas Child Abduction Scheme.
  2. Download and complete the Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check form.
  3. Email completed forms and required documents to finass@ag.gov.au.

Do not submit the Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check Form to any other organisation. We will submit it on your behalf as part of your application assessment.

How we assess your application

Your application will be assessed under the:

When we assess your application, we consider:

  • your income, assets, liabilities and expenses (including whether you are able to sell assets or secure a loan against them)
  • whether your legal representative has received or may receive any payment or legal assistance from a third party
  • the estimated cost of the legal proceedings
  • whether the costs of the legal action will cause you financial hardship.

In most cases, we consider that you are unable to meet the cost of the legal action if you receive Centrelink benefits as your main source of income.

We may also consider situations where you are temporarily unable to access your finances due to circumstances outside your control. For example, domestic violence, incarceration or where your assets have been restrained but may be returned to you at a later time.

Assessment timeframe

If your application is complete, we will assess it within 28 days. If it is incomplete, we will notify you and ask for the missing information. We will not assess incomplete applications. 

Find out more

To contact the Legal Financial Assistance Casework team, email finass@ag.gov.au.

If you need an alternative way to contact us, you can leave a message for the team with our department’s switchboard at 02 6141 6666 (or +61 2 6141 6666 for overseas callers). 

If you are deaf or have a hearing or speech impairment, contact the department through the National Relay Service and give 02 6141 6666 as the number you would like to call.

Related links

International parental child abduction