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Relocation: I want to move with the children

After separation, a parent may want to move for work, housing, family support, a new relationship or safety. When the move would significantly affect a child’s time with another parent or important person, it can become a relocation issue under family law.

Planning the move carefully matters. Moving first and trying to resolve the dispute later can lead to urgent Court proceedings and, in some cases, an order that the child return while the dispute is decided.

This article provides general information only. Relocation matters are fact-specific, and early legal advice can help you understand the options in your circumstances.

Start with consent or Court orders

If the proposed move would make existing parenting arrangements difficult or significantly affect the child’s relationships, seek the other parent’s written agreement before relocating. If agreement is reached, the parties can consider formalising it through consent orders.

If there are current parenting orders, read them carefully. A move that prevents compliance may place a parent in breach of those orders.

When agreement is not possible, a parent can ask the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia to decide whether relocation should occur. In most cases, parties must attempt family dispute resolution before applying for parenting orders. Exemptions may apply, including for urgency, family violence or child abuse.

The child’s best interests come first

The Court does not decide a relocation case by asking only whether the move is reasonable for a parent. The child’s best interests are the paramount consideration.

Relevant matters can include:

The Court considers the competing proposals as a whole. There is no automatic rule that a parent must stay in the same suburb or that a proposed move will be allowed because it offers better work or family support.

Build a practical relocation proposal

A detailed proposal is usually more useful than a statement that the move will be “better”. Consider how the arrangement would work in practice, including:

The parent opposing the move should also explain a workable alternative and how that proposal meets the child’s needs.

Safety and urgent situations

If family violence or an immediate safety risk is affecting the proposed move, obtain advice quickly. Safety is central to parenting decisions, and the usual dispute-resolution steps may not be appropriate.

If a child has already been moved without consent, or you believe they are about to be taken interstate or overseas, urgent legal advice may be required. The Court can make urgent parenting, recovery and travel-related orders.

If you or a child is in immediate danger, call 000.

How Empower Family Law & Mediation can help

We can help you assess a proposed relocation, prepare a practical parenting proposal, negotiate through family dispute resolution or apply to the Court where agreement is not possible.

Read about our child relocation service, parenting and child custody or contact our team.

Your first 30-minute consultation is free. Call (03) 7020 6542.

For official information, see the Court’s guidance on relocation and travel and children’s best interests.

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Building the evidence, not just the argument

Relocation decisions turn on concrete detail, and the material that supports them is largely documentary. Full and frank disclosure applies in parenting cases at every stage, and the relevant material is case-specific: it can include medical reports about a child or parent, school reports, letters and drawings by the child, photographs and diaries.

For a proposed move, the useful evidence is usually about the destination and the arrangements: the school and whether a place is available, housing, the support network relied on, employment, and the cost and practicality of travel between the two locations. For a parent opposing a move, it is usually about the existing relationship and routine, and what would realistically be lost.

If you obtain an expert report for a parenting case, you must give a copy to the other parties and to any independent children's lawyer appointed — a report cannot be commissioned and then quietly shelved.

The Court may appoint a lawyer for the child

Relocation disputes are finely balanced and the consequences for a child are long-lasting, so the Court may appoint an Independent Children's Lawyer. They do not act for either parent and do not take instructions from the child. Their role is to form an independent view of what serves the child's interests and to put it to the Court, which can include obtaining reports and gathering material from schools, doctors or child protection authorities.

A child's views will also be considered. Children do not give evidence; where the Court needs to understand a child's circumstances it may order a report, and the author decides whether to observe the child with each parent and whether to meet them separately.

Where to read the procedural detail

Our child relocation page sets out the rest of the framework: how the best-interests factors apply to a proposed move, what a workable relocation proposal should contain, and the options where a child has already been moved within Australia or taken overseas, including recovery orders, the Hague Convention and passport proceedings.

Court information on this page reflects the published guidance of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia on children's matters and the duty of disclosure brochure, as at 27 October 2026. It is general information only, not legal advice, and does not replace advice about your own circumstances.

Before you decide: questions to work through

A relocation proposal is assessed on its practical detail rather than on the strength of the reasons behind it. Working through the following before you raise the move with the other parent will tell you whether what you are proposing is realistic, and will make the conversation far more productive if it is.

About the destination. Which school, and is a place available? Where would the child live? What does the housing cost compared with now? What support network is actually there, as opposed to in prospect? If employment is the reason, is the offer firm?

About the relationship with the other parent. Exactly how often would the child see them, for how long, and when? How much of that falls in school terms and how much in holidays? What is the door-to-door travel time, and who accompanies a young child? Who pays, and can they afford it? What does communication look like between visits?

About contingencies. What happens if the job does not eventuate, or the support network changes? What if the other parent's circumstances change? A proposal that only works on its best assumptions tends not to survive scrutiny.

If the other parent does not agree

You will need an order from the Court. Before an application can be filed, family dispute resolution is mandatory unless an exemption is granted, and a practitioner registered with the Commonwealth Attorney-General's Department issues the certificate the Court requires. Many relocation disputes settle at that stage or later, often on terms neither party had considered at the outset, such as a staged move or a substantially restructured holiday arrangement.

If the matter proceeds, the Court will usually need to decide the interim position while the case is pending. That decision is made on limited material and often sets the practical arrangement for a considerable period, which is a strong reason to raise the proposal early rather than close to a planned departure date.

What the Court will want to understand about the child

The best interests factors are applied to the specific child, not to relocation as a category. That means the Court is interested in this child's age and stage, their relationships, their schooling, their health, any particular needs they have, and any views they express — gathered through a report rather than by asking them to choose.

For an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child, the Court must separately consider their right to connect with and maintain their connection to family, community, culture, country and language, which may support or weigh against a particular move depending entirely on where those connections lie.

Court information in this section reflects the published guidance of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia, as at 27 October 2026. It is general information only, not legal advice.

Do I need permission before moving with the children?

Where the move would significantly affect a child's ability to have a relationship with the other parent or another important person in their life, you need that person's consent or an order from the Court before you go. Moving first and resolving the dispute afterwards commonly leads to urgent proceedings and, in some cases, an order that the child return to live where they were while the matter is decided, which means the child moves twice and the move itself becomes a point against you. If a move is being considered, raise it early: a negotiated or mediated outcome is frequently achievable and is far less disruptive for the child than a contested hearing.

How does the Court decide a relocation case?

Within the ordinary best interests framework, with the proposed move as the central fact. There is no separate relocation test and no presumption either way. The Court considers what arrangements would promote the safety of the child and each person caring for them, any views expressed by the child, the child's developmental, psychological, emotional and cultural needs, the capacity of each person with parental responsibility to meet those needs, the benefit of a relationship with both parents and other significant people where it is safe, and anything else relevant to that child. For an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child, their right to connect with family, community, culture, country and language is a separate consideration that can cut either way.

What makes a relocation proposal workable?

Practical detail rather than reasons for wanting to move. Set out where the child would live and attend school and whether a place is available, the housing, the support network being relied on, employment, exactly how and when the child would spend time and communicate with the other parent, how travel would be funded and managed, who would accompany a young child, and what happens during school holidays. Relocation cases turn on how realistically the relationship with the other parent can be preserved after the move: travel time and cost, who bears it, school terms, and whether the proposed arrangements are genuinely workable in practice rather than merely possible on paper.

What if the children have already been moved or taken overseas?

Act immediately, because the practical options narrow quickly and some remedies depend on steps being taken promptly. Within Australia, where a child who normally lives with you has not been returned or is missing, you can apply for a recovery order, which can authorise the return of the child and, where necessary, the involvement of authorities in locating them. Where a child has been taken overseas without your permission or without court authorisation, or has not been returned as agreed, the Hague Convention framework may apply, though whether it does depends on the country involved. Where there is a risk a child may be removed from Australia, separate passport proceedings exist and can be brought urgently.

For an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child, is anything different?

Yes. The Court must separately consider the child's right to enjoy their Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander culture, by having the support, opportunity and encouragement necessary to connect with and maintain their connection with members of their family and with their community, culture, country and language; to explore the full extent of that culture, consistent with the child's age and developmental level and their views; and to develop a positive appreciation of that culture. This is a distinct consideration in its own right rather than part of the general cultural needs factor. In a relocation case it can support or weigh against a proposed move, depending entirely on where those connections lie.

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