Changes to Parent’s Responsibilities.

In 2024 there will be changes to how the court determines parenting matters.

Parenting Responsibility means all the responsibilities and authority which parents ordinarily have for their children, and typically means decisions like where they go to school, and what medical treatments they should have.

Shared Parental Responsibility does not mean that children spend equal time with both parents.

Currently (November 2023), the Family Law Act provides that the court must assume that it is in the best interests of the child for the child’s parents to have equal shared parental responsibility for the child. In reality, that is not what happens. That means that both parents have to agree about these decisions, however it has created community confusion as it is commonly misunderstood as being a presumption of equal shared time.

The court will grant one parent sole parental responsibility is some circumstances such as where one parent is not capable of making decisions in the best interests of the child, or there is so much conflict between the parents such that they will not be able to make these decisions together.

The amendments to the family law act remove the presumption of equal shared parental responsibility. Any allocation of responsibility is now based only on what is in the child's best interests.

These changes have caused significant discussion in the community, with some commentators claiming fathers will be ‘left out in the cold’.  While (in theory) the Family Law Act does not discriminate between mothers and fathers, the statistics do paint a very one sided picture. Over 96% of the time that sole responsibility is granted, it is granted to the mother. In 98% of matters mother’s will be granted parental responsibility, and fathers in only 73%. they are unlikely to affect the outcome for the vast majority of separating parents and their families.

97% of separating parents never require the courts’ assistance to determine parenting arrangements for their children, the vast majority of these matters are settled prior to a final hearing by a judge.

In 72% of cases determined in the court both parents have shared parental responsibility, while they have equal custody in only 9% of cases. The most common arrangements order by the court is for the children to spend between 2 and 5 nights per fortnight with their father, and for both parents to have shared parental responsibility.