Parenting orders can be made by consent or by order of the court, and will set out the parenting arrangements for your child or children moving forward. Once parenting orders have been sealed by the court, the parties to the orders are bound by the parenting arrangements contained therein.
If you are party to a parenting order, this means that:
An order is contravened (i.e. breached) when one party:
A contravention will only be ‘excused’ where the party who contravenes the order can establish that there was a reasonable excuse for breaching the order.
What are your options if your former spouse has contravened parenting orders?
Firstly, we recommend attempting to resolve the dispute by attending Family Dispute Resolution (FDR). If it is not suitable to attempt to resolve the matter between yourselves at FDR, you can apply to the court for a contravention order. There are three methods of applying to the court.
If there are proceedings on foot, you can file an ‘Application in a Case’ . This is effectively an application that the parenting arrangements contained within the order are resumed or varied.
If you seek to implement the orders, you can file an application with the court, namely an ‘Application – Contravention’. Before filing an ‘Application – Contravention’, you should consider the result that you want to achieve. In terms of the remedies available. The court may make an order that:
To file an application to vary an order, you will need to file an ‘Initiating Application’ with a supporting affidavit. This affidavit will need to outline the significant change of circumstances that have arisen, such that it is in the best interests of the child or children that the parenting orders be varied.
It is quite a difficult to establish that a change in circumstances are significant enough to warrant the alteration of existing parenting orders.
If you have any concerns about your obligations under a parenting order, or the contravention of a parenting order, our family law team can assist you to understand your legal rights and responsibilities, as well as your options moving forward.
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