Except in limited circumstances, parents are required to attend Family Dispute Resolution, and to make a genuine attempt to resolve parenting issues by agreement, prior to issuing an application in the Family Court.

If an agreement can be reached without the need for Family Court proceedings, that agreement can be formalised by making an application for Consent Orders to the Family Court.

If an agreement cannot be reached, our family law team will make or respond to an application for Parenting Orders on your behalf.

Parenting Orders may deal with specific issues including:

  • Who the children live with.
  • Who the children spend time with.
  • What will happen during school holidays.
  • What will happen on special occasions such as Christmas Day, Easter, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and birthdays.
  • Travel arrangements including inter-state and overseas travel.
  • Each child’s education arrangements.
  • Medical treatment.
  • The extent to which the children can communicate with the other parent and the means of doing so.

When making Parenting Orders, the Family Court will act in the best interests of the children. The Family Court will take into account a list of primary and additional considerations before making Parenting Orders.

Primary Considerations:

  • The benefit to the children of being in a meaningful relationship with both of their parents.
  • The need to protect the children from physical or psychological harm and from being subject to, or exposed to, neglect or family violence.

Additional Considerations include:

  • The children’s age, maturity, attitude, sex, lifestyle, background, and any views expressed by them.
  • The nature of the relationship between the children and each parent and any other person.
  • The willingness or ability of each parent to facilitate the relationship between the children and the other parent.
  • The capacity of each parent to provide for the children’s needs.
  • The likely effect on the children of any changes to their current circumstances.
  • Each parents attitude to the children and the responsibility of parenthood.

Read more about Child Support

Contact our legal team today for a confidential discussion on children matters.