State Central Authority (Tasmania) & Thomas

In the matter of *State Central Authority (Tasmania) & Thomas*, Benjamin J of the Federal Circuit Court of Australia considered an application concerning the wrongful removal of a child from Australia. The application was brought by the State Central Authority (Tasmania) on behalf of the father, Mr Thomas, against the mother, seeking a declaration that the child's removal from Australia to the United States of America was wrongful under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

The central legal issue before the court was whether the removal of the child, born in January 2005, from Australia to the United States of America on or about 21 June 2007, constituted a wrongful removal within the meaning of Article 3 of the Hague Convention. This required the court to determine if the father possessed rights of custody at the time of the child's removal, as defined by Australian law and the Convention.

His Honour applied Regulation 17 of the Family Law (Child Abduction Convention) Regulations 1986, which permits a court to declare that the removal of a child was wrongful under the laws of Australia. The court found that the father, as the biological father and a party to the parental relationship, had rights of custody in relation to the child under Australian law. These rights were considered to be vested in him by virtue of his parental status and his involvement in the child's upbringing and care since birth, including the child's premature birth and subsequent medical treatment in Australia.

Consequently, the court declared that the removal of the child from Australia to the United States of America on or about 21 June 2007 was wrongful under the laws of Australia within the meaning of Article 3 of the Hague Convention. The matter was then removed from the list of cases requiring determination.