Family Law

Children in Family Law Disputes
Child Abuse or Family Violence
DNA Testing
Changing the Child’s Name
Relocation or Taking a Child Overseas
Kidnapping, Airport Watch List and Recovery Orders
Property Issues
Divorce
Consent Orders
Binding Financial Agreements

Children in Family Law Disputes

The Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) underwent significant amendments in 2006 with the introduction of the Family Law Amendment (Shared Parental Responsibility) Act 2006. This Act sought to impose a cultural shift amongst parents to better recognise the importance of both parents being involved in the decision making process over the children’s care, welfare and development. The law now assumes that separating parents must share equal parental responsibility of the children and that the children have the right to spend significant and substantial time with each parent.

When parenting orders are made in Court for shared parental responsibility, the Court must consider what is in the children’s best interests. The relevant factors are set out in s. 60CC of the Family Law Act which include:

the nature of the relationship the child has with each parent;
capacity of each parent to provide for the child’s financial, emotional, intellectual and personal needs;
the attitude each parent has towards parenting;
how involved each parent was in the raising of the child;
the likely effect of any changes in the child’s circumstances; and
any views expressed by the child who is of mature age.