Resources

Child Support and dealing with the Child Support Agency (Urgh!) The Child Support Agency (CSA) are notoriously difficult to deal with, you need to set aside a day on the phone if you intend to try and get any information out of them that way. What does help is doing your homework, knowing the process […]

Have you recently separated and the thought of making arrangements for the children at Christmas time is filling you with dread? You’re not alone, the first post-separation Christmas is the most stressful.  After the first Christmas most families reach an agreement and fall into an annual routine which usually alternates or allocates specific time to […]

Question: Everyone keeps talking about ‘the Best Interests of the Child’ but how do you determine what is in ‘the best Interests of the Child’?! The Family Law Act 1975 requires the court to make orders which are ‘in the best interests of the child’. The best interests of the child are paramount considerations and […]

I want to change the Parenting Orders. Can I do this? The Rule in Rice v Asplund As far as possible the court aims to make parenting orders final. Given the unpredictability of life finality is not always possible. In many cases new orders are necessary and/or desirable. There are two ways this can be […]

How much financial information do I have to disclose to the other side in family law matters? The answer to that question is fairly straightforward: both parties have a duty to provide ‘full and frank disclosure’ in both financial and parenting cases. In financial cases this involves disclosing your entire financial circumstances including income from […]

Many people are rightly very concerned about bringing parenting matters to the attention of the Courts. The impact upon the children can be significant and no parent would wish to see their child exposed to that unnecessarily. Fortunately, the Australian court system is also very conscious of this fact and has developed procedures to ensure […]

The following glossary includes definitions of common family law terms & concepts: Adjournment – an Order that the matter be dealt with at a later date. Affidavit – written evidence of an individual relied upon in Court. Airport Watch List – an Order requiring the Federal Police to stop a named person leaving the country. […]