Top 6 family overseas holiday locations and their child seat laws

There is a lot to organise and research for overseas trips as a family. Working out whether your child seats are legal to use in different countries and what local car travel is like can be overwhelming, so we have done the research for you.

We have looked at some of the most popular holiday destinations for Australian families and whether you can take your child seats with you.

All parents want their children to travel in the safest way possible in vehicles, and Australia has some of the highest child seat and vehicle safety standards in the world, so when we go on holiday we don’t want to compromise on that if we can avoid it.

As a mum of two, family car journalist and founder of BabyDrive.com.au, I have travelled a lot with my family over the last 10 years, so here’s my guide on international travel with kids and child seats:

New Zealand is perhaps the easiest overseas destination when it comes to taking your child’s car seat. All child restraints legal to use in Australia have to meet the shared Australian/New Zealand standard AS/NZS 1754 and display the sticker below.

As long as your car seat has this AS/NZS 1754 tick mark sticker on it, it is legal to use in New Zealand.

Other overseas child seat standards accepted in New Zealand are E-marked ECE 44/129 and US FMVSS 213 bearing the NZ ‘S’ mark.

In New Zealand, a child must use the correct child restraint until their seventh birthday.

Between their seventh and eighth birthdays, they must use a child restraint if a suitable one is available in the vehicle they are travelling in, but if there is no suitable child restraint available, they must wear a seat belt instead.

Once a child reaches eight years old, they are no longer required by New Zealand law to use a child restraint and just need to wear a seat belt like everyone else.

New Zealand’s official advice is to keep children in a booster seat until they are 148cm tall or 11 years old, so don’t rush to leave the booster at home!

Indonesia has no child seat laws at all, so there is nothing stopping you from using an Australian child seat in Bali, although you may have a problem installing it in local vehicles as they might not have rear seat belts, let alone top tether or ISOFIX anchorages.

Where an Australian child seat is able to be fitted, this is your safest bet. Otherwise, pre-booking a private car with a driver gives you a chance to arrange with them beforehand to either use their child seats or make sure their car has the right anchors to use your own.

Taking your Australian car seats to the US is not an option. The US has its own child seat regulations under Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS 213), and all child restraints must display a sticker on their back or base showing they are legal to use in the US.

Most US states require the use of a correct child restraint until age eight, but child seat rules differ state by state.

Some states have a lower age of six years old and others require child restraints until children reach a certain height, no matter their age, so make sure you check the local laws where you will be driving.

If you are renting a car, look at hiring or even buying an affordable child seat, as installation is similar to Australia under a system called ‘LATCH’, which stands for Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children. The ISOFIX-style points are the ‘lower anchors’ and the top tether is still called a top tether.

In Japan, children are required to be in car seats until their sixth birthday and, although they can legally use a seat belt from age six, the Japan Automobile Federation recommends a booster seat until children are 150cm tall (this is the minimum height seat belts are designed for).

Renting a child seat when you get there is a good idea, as Japan approves child seats to the UN R44 and R129 standards rather than our AS/NZS 1754, which means Australian child seats are not allowed.

The good news is that all cars sold in Japan since July 2012 have ISOFIX and top tether anchorages.

Japan categorises child restraints into three specific types based on age and weight:

You must request the correct type when renting a car, as rental companies may refuse to let you have the vehicle if they think your children are not going to be correctly restrained.

The simple answer is NO. You cannot use your Australian child seat in the UK and the laws are different for the age and height at which children must be in child restraints, so you may find that a child who does not legally have to be in a child seat in Australia does in the UK.

Car seats approved for use in the UK have a label showing an ‘E’ in a circle and ‘R129’ (height-based sizing), in which children must be rear-facing until they are at least 15 months old, or an ‘E’ in a circle and ‘ECE R44’ (weight-based sizing), in which forward-facing is allowed once the child is 9kg or heavier.

According to the UK Government website:

Car seats with an ‘E’ in a circle and ‘ECE R44’ stopped being made in 2023, as the weight-based standard (where the type of seat and how the child is restrained depends on their weight) is being phased out.

According to the Land Transport Authority (LTA) in Fiji, everyone aged eight and over must wear a seat belt, and drivers are responsible for making sure any passenger under 16 is wearing a seat belt or secured in a child restraint.

Fiji has no outright ban on foreign child seats, although they are meant to be of a type approved by the LTA.

You may also find local taxis and cars do not have the top tether and ISOFIX anchorages required to connect them.

Local tour companies such as Tourist Transport Fiji (TTF) say they provide child restraints for FJ$20 per seat, per transfer, and Airport Shuttle Fiji has a policy to transport all children in a securely fitting baby seat, child seat or standard safety belt.

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