Section 49 of the Lukautim Pikinini Act 2015 deals with a child found away from home — whether by accident or by choice.
Section 49(1) and (2)
An officer may take charge of a child where it appears to the officer that the child is lost or has run away from his home.
(a) notify the Office for Child and Family Services; and
(b) take all reasonable steps to locate the parent; and
(c) take the child to a place of safety designated by the Director, or arrange for someone to look after the child.
Section 46 requires reasonable grounds that the child’s health or safety is in immediate danger. Section 49 requires only that it appears the child is lost or has run away.
That is right: a child on the street at night, or wandering far from any village, needs help without anyone having to form a view about danger. But section 49 also confers no power of forcible entry — the child is already away from home.
“Officer” here has the section 45 meaning: a police officer, or a Child Protection Officer authorised by the Council for Division 3 powers.
In the case of a person who has possession of a lost or runaway or abandoned child, he shall immediately notify the Office.
This is not confined to officers. Anyone who takes in such a child — a neighbour, a shopkeeper, a church — must notify the Office immediately.
The reason is protective on both sides. It brings the child within the system, allows the parents to be found, and protects the person who has taken the child in from any suggestion that the child was taken. Compare the 48-hour reporting duty in section 48(3) for a child abandoned soon after delivery.
Section 49(4) — where the parent is located
(a) return the child or facilitate the child’s return to the parent; or
(b) place the child with another person, at the request of the parent, and with the consent of that other person.
A parent may recognise that the child should not come straight home — there may be a conflict in the household, or the parent may be away working. Paragraph (b) allows the parent to nominate someone else, provided that person consents.
This aligns with section 5(1)(j): alternative care within the child’s own family or community, preserving the child’s ties. It is also the pattern in section 9(2), under which relatives commonly exercise parental responsibility.
Sections 49(5) and (6) — the child who will not go back
Where the child refuses to return to the parent, the Office shall —
(a) place the child with a person or in a place of safety designated by the Director; and
(b) arrange for a mediation process between the child and the parent.
Where mediation does not result in the child returning to the person responsible for the child, the Office may institute proceedings under Part XII, Division 2 — that is, Family Court hearings.
Section 49(5) does not permit the child to be returned by force. A refusal triggers a mandatory response: placement, and mediation.
That reflects section 5(1)(l) — a child able to form views must be given the opportunity to express them freely, and those views are to be given due weight in accordance with the developmental capacity of the child.
It also reflects paragraph (j) of the definition of a child in need of protection: a child who has serious differences with his parents to the extent that his well-being is seriously impaired or threatened, or his care and control likely to be seriously disrupted.
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1 | Officer takes charge; or any person with possession notifies the Office |
| 2 | Office notified; reasonable steps to locate the parent; child placed safely |
| 3a | Parent found, child willing — return, or placement with a person the parent nominates |
| 3b | Parent found, child refuses — placement and mediation |
| 4 | Mediation fails — Family Court proceedings |
Mediation before litigation is the pattern the Act prefers, and it echoes the reconciliation policy in Part III of the Matrimonial Causes Act. Throughout, section 50 requires prompt notification of each parent where a child is removed under this Division, and section 51 gives the Office the care of the child until the child is returned or a court order is made.
Sources
- Lukautim Pikinini Act 2015 — ss 2, 5, 9, 45–52, 93
- Matrimonial Causes Act (Chapter 282) — Part III
Before relying on anything here, read the current text of the Marriage Act (Chapter 280) and check for later amendments. If a decision matters to you, get advice — start with the Office of the Public Solicitor, or find a firm in the law firms directory.