UNCLASSIFIED

Dear Mr Cohen

 

I refer to your Freedom of Information requests made to the
Attorney-General:

 

‘The Australian Central Authority for the Hague Convention on the Civil
Aspects of International Child Abduction provides application statistics
on the Attorney-General's Department website at the following web address:

 

[1]https://www.ag.gov.au/FamiliesAndMarriag...

 

I request more detailed information be provided which includes statistics
on a per country basis (i.e not a catch all "Proportion all other
countries"), and outcomes of applications and/or cases for return of child
and visitation. Parents need to know how and why children were returned,
or not returned and the success of visitation applications on a per
country basis. For example:

 

* For return of child from country A, out of all cases resulting in
successful returns, X number were successful enforcement of return orders,
Y number were result of mediation etc.

* For return of child from country A, out of all cases resulting in denial
of return petition, X number were denied due to place of habitual
residence issues, Y number were denied due to <insert> ground for refusal
etc.’

 

I am writing to tell you that the Attorney-General’s Office has
transferred your requests, in full, to the Attorney-General’s Department
under s16(1) of the FOI Act. The Attorney-General’s Office is able to
transfer a request if the subject matter is more closely related to the
functions of another agency. The Secretary of the Attorney-General’s
Department is the Australian Central Authority for the Hague Convention on
the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

 

I received your request on 11 May 2017, and the 30 day statutory timeframe
for processing your request commenced on the day after that date. The
Attorney-General’s Department will treat your request as though they
received it the same day that we did.

 

The relevant email address at the Attorney-General’s Department is
[2][email address].

 

Regards

 

Office of the Attorney-General

Leader of the Government in the Senate

Parliament House CANBERRA ACT 2600

T: 02 6277 7300

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Cohen
[[3]mailto:[FOI #3479 email]]
Sent: Thursday, 11 May 2017 10:31 AM
To: FOI Requests
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Hague Convention on the Civil
Aspects of International Child application outcomes

 

Dear Attorney-General,

 

The Australian Central Authority for the Hague Convention on the Civil
Aspects of International Child Abduction provides application statistics
on the Attorney-General's Department website at the following web address:

 

[4]https://www.ag.gov.au/FamiliesAndMarriag...

 

I request more detailed information be provided which includes statistics
on a per country basis (i.e not a catch all "Proportion all other
countries"), and outcomes of applications and/or cases for return of child
and visitation. Parents need to know how and why children were returned,
or not returned and the success of visitation applications on a per
country basis. For example:

 

* For return of child from country A, out of all cases resulting in
successful returns, X number were successful enforcement of return orders,
Y number were result of mediation etc.

* For return of child from country A, out of all cases resulting in denial
of return petition, X number were denied due to place of habitual
residence issues, Y number were denied due to <insert> ground for refusal
etc.

 

There are many issues with the provided information in determining how
effective the Hague Convention return of child and visitation processes
are in securing return of child(ren) and access to children. The requested
information is extremely important to assist left behind parents in
determining whether the long and expensive Hague Convention processes will
be effective in the country where their child or children have been
abducted to or retained in.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

Michael Cohen

Left Behind Parent

 

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Please use this email address for all replies to this request:

[5][FOI #3479 email]

 

Is [6][Attorney-General request email] the wrong address for Freedom of Information requests
to Attorney-General? If so, please contact us using this form:

[7]https://www.righttoknow.org.au/change_re...

 

This request has been made by an individual using Right to Know. This
message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet.
More information on how Right to Know works can be found at:

[8]https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...

 

If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.

 

 

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