The Australian media is reporting today on plans by the Australian Government to introduce legislation that will extend the range of scenarios under which International Parental Child Abduction (IPCA) is a criminal offence in this country.
The Government is also proposing legislation that will empower the Family Court of Australia to suspend child support payments to parents who abduct children from Australia.
The proposed changes are very welcome but they fall short of introducing a general criminal offence to cover all cases of IPCA from Australia & not just those that are before the Family Court, or when one parent doesn't honour an agreement to return a child that has been taken to another country for a holiday & then retained without the consent of either the other parent or the Family Court of Australia.
Australia has one of the highest (if not the highest) per capita rate of IPCA in the developed world. The Australian Attorney-General himself describes IPCA as “an unimaginable horror happening at an unacceptable rate”. IPCA is also an extreme act of domestic violence by one parent against the other.
Hopefully the introduction of a general criminal offence & several related issues will be addressed when the Senate Enquiry into IPCA submits its report to the Australian Government on 31st October 2011.
Click here for link to Attorney-General's media release
Ken - I wish you would not only write here about other matters, eg the amendments to the Famiily Law Act and the sad story of Daniel Morecombe but about your son, who we haven't heard anything about for months and months. How's little Andrew doing now? We read so much about him for so long and became so attached to him through your blog and now there's nothing. I imagine that in your care back home in Sydney he's thriving and doing really well at school but we don't know because you haven't told us anything. He must be thrilled to be with all his grannies and grandpas and cousins too. It would be so nice if you could tell us about his progress since returning from Holland.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment and support. Unfortunately Ken is unable to comment publicly on life back with his son in Australia as matters are before the courts. Feel free to contact him on kenthompson@fastmail.fm. Blog Coordinator.
ReplyDeleteMax Troitsky, a Russian-speaking US Citizen from Pennsylvania is in a sad situation. His estranged wife ( Anna Troitsky a.k.a. Anna Demyanyuk ), a US-Russian dual citizen illegally abducted their US-born US-citizen toddler daughter Julie Troitsky in late November 2011, against the US Court Order, and all the details of this bizarre and unfortunate case are here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.HelpBringJulieHome.com (site in English and Russian)
and on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/HelpBringJulieHome
and on Twitter: http://twitter.com/BringJulieHome
Thank you for the help, leads and following of this case...