Missing Children

site area for missing children

Family Court of Australia - Missing Children

Information relating to missing children, including pictures and descriptions.

Federal Magistrates Court - Missing Children

Information relating to missing children, including pictures and descriptions.

Is your child missing?

If you believe your child has been taken by a family member and efforts to find the child have failed, you should seek immediate legal advice.

Is your child missing?

The court may make a recovery order if your child has been taken from you or has not been returned to your care.

The orders can be made on the request of a parent who is seeking public assistance to find their child. They generally allow the media to report details and publish photographs that may help locate a missing child.

Legal advice

If your child is missing, you should seek legal advice before applying for a publication order.

For the media

Publication orders issued by the courts enable the media to report details and publish photographs of missing children and the person they are believed to be with. However, each case is different and the terms of publication orders can vary.

When a child goes missing, presumably taken by one parent, the other parent can seek orders that will assist in locating their missing child. These orders may include recovery orders or publication orders.

In this section

Missing Children

Family Court of Australia - Missing Children

Federal Magistrates Court - Missing Children

Is your child missing?

Is your child missing?

Publication orders

Legal advice

For the media