Queensland Consolidated Acts

DOMICILE ACT 1981 - SECT 8

8 Domicile of certain children

(1) In this section—

(a)
"child" means a person under the age of 18 years who is not, and has not at any time been, married; and

(b) references to the parents of a child include references to parents who are not married to each other.

(2) Where, at any time, a child has a principal home with 1 of the child’s parents but the parents are living separately and apart or the child does not have another living parent, the domicile of the child at that time is the domicile that that parent has at that time and thereafter the child has the domicile that that parent has from time to time or, if that parent has died, the domicile that that parent had at the time of death.

(3) Where a child is adopted, the child’s domicile—

(a) if, upon adoption, the child has 2 parents—is, at the time of the adoption and thereafter, the domicile the child would have if the child were a child born in wedlock to those parents; and

(b) if, upon adoption, the child has 1 parent only—is, at the time of the adoption, the domicile of that parent and thereafter is the domicile that that parent has from time to time or, if that parent has died, the domicile that that parent had at the time of death.

(4) Subsection (5) applies if a child’s parentage has been transferred by—

(a) a parentage order under the Surrogacy Act 2010 ; or

(b) an order of another Australian jurisdiction (also a
"parentage order" ) that corresponds to a parentage order made under the Surrogacy Act 2010 ; or

(c) a cultural recognition order (also a
"parentage order" ) made under the Meriba Omasker Kaziw Kazipa (Torres Strait Islander Traditional Child Rearing Practice) Act 2020 .

(5) From the time the parentage order is made, the child’s domicile is—

(a) if, on the making of the parentage order, the child has 2 parents—the domicile the child would have if the child were a child born in wedlock to those parents; and

(b) if, on the making of the parentage order, the child has 1 parent only—the domicile of that parent or, if that parent has died, the domicile that parent had at the time of death.

(6) A child ceases to have, by virtue of subsection (2) , the domicile or last domicile of 1 of the child’s parents if—

(a) the child commences to have a principal home with the other parent; or

(b) the child’s parents resume or commence living together.

(7) Where a child has a domicile by virtue of subsection (2) , (3) or (5) immediately before ceasing to be a child, he or she retains that domicile until acquiring a domicile of choice.

(8) Where the adoption of a child is rescinded, the domicile of the child shall thereafter be determined in accordance with any provisions with respect to that domicile that are included in the order rescinding the adoption and, so far as no such provision is applicable, as if the adoption had not taken place.

(9) Subsection (10) applies if a parentage order for a child is discharged by—

(a) a discharge order under the Surrogacy Act 2010 ; or

(b) an order of another Australian jurisdiction (also a
"discharge order" ) that corresponds to a discharge order made under the Surrogacy Act 2010 ; or

(c) a discharge order (also a
"discharge order" ) made under the Meriba Omasker Kaziw Kazipa (Torres Strait Islander Traditional Child Rearing Practice) Act 2020 .

(10) The child’s domicile is—

(a) the domicile stated in, or dealt with under, the discharge order; or

(b) if there is no provision in the discharge order dealing with the child’s domicile—the domicile the child would have if the transfer of parentage under the parentage order had not taken place.

(11) Despite the Meriba Omasker Kaziw Kazipa (Torres Strait Islander Traditional Child Rearing Practice) Act 2020 , section 106 , a reference in this section to a child who is adopted is taken not to include a reference to a child who is the subject of a cultural recognition order made under that Act.