How to Notarise a Child Travel Consent in Australia

To get a notarised letter of consent for travel in Australia, draft the letter unsigned, then have each non-travelling parent sign it in front of a notary with photo ID. The notary attaches a certificate confirming who signed. Some destinations then want a DFAT apostille. Domestic flights rarely need a notary at all.

Key takeaways

• A consent letter is signed by each person with parental responsibility who is not travelling. The notary confirms identity and the signature, nothing more.
• The airline, every transit country and the destination apply their own rules. The one that stops you is usually the one nobody checked.
• Bring the letter unsigned. A letter signed at home cannot be notarised as it stands.
• For flights inside Australia, the airline's own form is usually all you need, and a free Justice of the Peace can witness anything else.
• A parenting order overrides any consent letter. If one is in place, carry a certified copy and ask a family lawyer before you book.

What a notarised consent letter is

A child travel consent letter is a signed statement from a parent or guardian who is not travelling, agreeing that the child may travel with another person: the other parent, a grandparent, a relative or a school group. A notarised consent letter has a notary's certificate attached, confirming that the notary identified the person who signed and watched them sign.

That is all the notary confirms. A notary cannot certify that the signer really is the child's parent, that they hold parental responsibility, or that the trip is lawful. A notary never certifies that a document's contents are true. What a border officer or airline agent wants is a signature they can rely on, and a notarised signature gives them that.

Do you need a consent letter to travel with a child?

Often, though not always, and the answer depends on who is checking. Because of international parental child abduction, officers are trained to question an adult travelling with a child who is not obviously theirs. The letter answers that question before it is asked.

Australia has no single rule requiring a consent letter for a child leaving the country, and many families are never asked for one. But three parties apply their own rules independently:

• The airline, which may ask at check-in, especially when a child travels with one parent or with neither.
• Any transit country, because a stop in a third country can bring its entry rules into play.
• The destination, which may ask on arrival and may publish its own form or wording.

The government's Smartraveller page on travelling with children says a child may need a consent letter when travelling with someone who is not their parent or guardian, and that a parent travelling alone may need extra documents, particularly where parent and child do not share a surname. It suggests proof of the other parent's consent, proof of any custody arrangement, and a certified copy of the child's birth certificate, especially if it does not name the travelling parent.

If the other parent is alive and contactable, get the letter.

Flights inside Australia: you probably do not need a notary

For travel within Australia, a notarised letter is almost never needed. There is no border, and the airline sets its own paperwork.

A child flying alone usually needs the airline's unaccompanied minor form, signed by a parent, plus two adults with photo ID: one to hand the child over and one to collect them. The forms of two major Australian airlines, checked in September 2026, did not ask for the signature to be witnessed or notarised; read the current version. What usually goes wrong is collection: the adult meeting the child must be the person named on the form, with matching ID.

For a child flying with a grandparent or school group, a short signed letter authorising medical treatment can still help. It needs no notary; a Justice of the Peace will witness it free.

That stops applying if the flight connects to an international one, or the child travels overseas later in the trip. Arrange the consent before the child leaves home.

Who needs to sign the consent letter

The safe answer is everyone with parental responsibility for the child who is not travelling. Smartraveller puts it plainly: before taking a child overseas, you must get consent from anyone with parental responsibility, or a court order allowing the travel, and you may be breaking the law if you do not.

Situation	Who signs, or what to carry
Child travels with one parent	The non-travelling parent signs before a notary.
Child travels with neither parent	Both parents sign, together or at separate appointments.
A legal guardian or a person named in a parenting order	That person signs, and a certified copy of the order goes in the folder.
One parent has died	No letter from that parent; carry a certified copy of the death certificate.
A parent cannot be found or will not consent	A legal problem, not a notarial one. See a family lawyer well before the travel date.
The consenting parent is overseas	They sign before a notary or consular official in their own country, and it is authenticated there, not by DFAT.
The consenting parent is in another Australian city	They see a notary locally, and the signed original is sent on.

Where parents are separated, settle this early and in writing.

What the consent letter should contain

There is no prescribed Australian child travel consent form, and no official template to download. Smartraveller says the letter usually states the child's name, gender, place and date of birth, who the child is travelling with, where the child is going, and the child's passport details. Border officers want a document specific enough to be checked, so we suggest including:

• the child's full name, date and place of birth, passport number and nationality
• the full name, relationship to the child and passport details of the accompanying adult
• the full name, relationship and contact details of each consenting parent
• the destination and every transit country
• the departure and return dates
• a clear statement of consent to the travel, and to the accompanying adult consenting to medical treatment if needed
• the date, and a signature block for each consenting person

Two details are often left out. Transit countries matter because a stop in a third country brings its rules into play. The medical consent line is the clause an overseas hospital will ask for. If the destination publishes its own form or wording, use theirs rather than your own.

We deliberately do not publish a template: requirements vary by destination, and a generic form tempts people to skip checking.

Court orders, child support and watchlists

If parenting orders are in place, they govern. An order may prohibit international travel, require the other parent's written consent or a court's permission, or involve the child being placed on the Australian Federal Police's Family Law Watchlist. Taking a child out of Australia in breach of an order, or while family law proceedings are under way, can be a criminal offence. A consent letter that contradicts an order does not override it.

Carry a certified copy of any order with the consent. If one parent has sole parental responsibility, the order may be what the border wants instead of a letter. Smartraveller also notes that many countries recognise Australian parenting orders and some do not, and that some countries do not recognise dual nationality, which can affect custody decisions there. The Attorney-General's Department page on international family law and children explains the wider picture.

One check people rarely expect: Smartraveller says child support payments must be up to date before you leave Australia, and Services Australia can stop a parent from leaving if they are not. That applies to the travelling parent, whatever the consent letter says.

If you are unsure whether an order permits the trip, ask a family lawyer before you book. A notary cannot answer that.

How to notarise the consent letter

1. Check what each checkpoint wants: a notarised letter, an apostille, a translation, or its own form.
2. Draft the letter and leave it unsigned. A letter signed at home can only be re-signed, not notarised. This is the most common reason a consent has to be redone.
3. Book each consenting person with a notary. Each attends with photo ID, ideally the passport named in the letter.
4. Bring the supporting papers: the child's birth certificate and passport, and any court order.
5. Sign in front of the notary, who checks identity and free consent, then attaches a sealed notarial certificate.
6. Arrange DFAT and any translation, if the destination asked for them, in the order it asked.
7. Pack the folder in the child's carry-on, not in checked luggage.

Sign several originals rather than copying one. An official may keep a document, and some want an original rather than a certified copy, so have the parent sign two or three identical originals at one appointment. The certified copy that does belong in the folder is the consenting parent's passport photo page, so signatures can be compared, and the child's birth certificate where surnames differ. Our document notarisation page describes what a notary does at that appointment.

Does the consent letter need an apostille?

Sometimes. Many destinations and airlines want the letter notarised and stop there. Others want it authenticated as well, particularly where the child will enrol in school, stay long term, or where a government office rather than a border officer will see the letter.

An apostille is a certificate confirming the signature and seal on a document, here the notary's. Only DFAT issues apostilles in Australia; a notary cannot. If the destination is a party to the Hague Apostille Convention, DFAT issues an apostille. If it is not, DFAT authenticates the notary's signature and the destination's embassy or consulate in Australia then legalises it. Membership changes, so check the HCCH status table on the day. The DFAT step takes longer than the notary appointment, so decide early. Our apostille and authentication page covers that step.

An apostille does not mean the child will be let in; entry is decided at the border.

JP, remote signing and translation

A Justice of the Peace can witness a consent letter free for domestic purposes. For international travel, a JP's witnessing is not recognised overseas, and DFAT will not apostille it. Smartraveller's phrase "witnessed by a public official" does not settle which official the destination accepts, so ask. See notary or JP for the wider difference.

If the destination wants a sworn affidavit of consent instead, the non-travelling parent swears it before a notary, in the destination's wording.

Some destinations and airlines accept a consent notarised by video; others do not. The receiving authority decides, not Australian law, so confirm with them before arranging a remote notarial act.

For a non-English-speaking destination, a bilingual letter prepared before signing is usually simpler than translating a signed one; check what it accepts. Our document translation page explains the options.

Consent to issue a child's Australian passport is a separate process with its own forms; a travel consent letter does not replace it.

Here is an illustration, not a real case

A mother in Brisbane plans to take her eight-year-old to visit family overseas, with a stopover in a third country. The child carries the father's surname, and the parents are separated. The father signs three originals of a consent letter before a notary, naming the destination, the transit country and a medical treatment line. The notary also certifies a copy of his passport photo page and the child's birth certificate. The destination's consulate says no apostille is needed for a short visit, so the folder stops there. At the transit airport, an officer keeps one original. Two remain for the rest of the trip.

In short

A notarised letter of consent for travel is a non-travelling parent's signature, witnessed by a notary who has checked their ID. Draft it unsigned, name every transit country, sign several originals, and carry the supporting copies. Add a DFAT apostille or embassy legalisation only when the destination asks. For flights inside Australia, the airline's form and a free JP are usually enough, and a court order always outranks the letter.

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Send us the destination and who is travelling with the child, and we will explain each step before you book.