Changing your parenting arrangements

How you change your parenting arrangements will depend on the type of arrangement you currently have. 

Informal agreements

You can change your informal agreement at any time by making a new agreement with the other parent. You can do this as often as you like, as many times as you like.

You don’t have to go to mediation or apply for court orders to make a new agreement. You can make a new informal agreement or parenting plan. However, neither of these types of agreements are legally enforceable.

If you want a legally binding agreement, you need to apply for consent orders.

For more information, see Parenting agreements.

If you can’t agree with the other parent about how to change your agreement, you must take genuine steps to resolve your parenting dispute and follow the pre-action procedures. In limited circumstances, you may be exempt from following the pre-action procedures where:

• your matter is urgent
• there has been, or there is a risk of, child abuse or family violence
• you or your ex-partner cannot participate effectively in mediation
• your ex-partner has breached a parenting order that was made within the last 12 months, and there are grounds to believe that your ex-partner has shown a serious disregard for their obligations under the order.

If you think you are exempt from the pre-action procedures, you should get legal advice.

For more information, see Family law mediation.

If you have followed the pre-action procedures and still can’t reach an agreement about the parenting arrangements for your child, you can apply to the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia or Local Court of NSW for parenting orders.

For more information, see Going to court.

Parenting plans

You can change your parenting plan at any time by making a new agreement with the other parent.

You don’t have to go to mediation or apply for court orders to make a new agreement to make a new agreement. You can make an informal agreement or parenting plan. You can do this as often as you like and as many times as you like. There is no limit to the number of informal agreements or parenting plans you can make for your child.

There are no rules for making an informal agreement, however, you should put it in writing. This will help avoid misunderstandings and disputes about the terms of your agreement.

Your parenting plan must:

• be voluntarily entered into by both parents
• be signed and dated by both parents
• cover at least one issue relating to the care, welfare, and development of your child, such as where your child will live or go to school.

If you want a legally enforceable agreement, you need to apply for consent orders.

For more information, see Parenting agreements.

If you can’t reach an agreement, you must take genuine steps to resolve your parenting dispute and follow the pre-action procedures, unless you are exempt.

If you think you are exempt from the pre-action procedures, you should get legal advice

For more information, see Family law mediation.

If you have followed the pre-action procedures and still can’t reach an agreement about the parenting arrangements for your child, you can apply to the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia or Local Court of NSW for parenting orders.

The Court will consider the terms of your most recent parenting plan when deciding what orders are in the best interests of your child. If you and the other parent are asking for parental responsibility of your child, the Court will also consider your capacity to provide for your child’s developmental, psychological, emotional, and cultural needs. This may include considering whether you have followed the terms of your parenting plan.

For more information, see Going to court.

Consent orders and parenting orders

If you have parenting orders (including consent orders), you can also change your orders at any time by making a new agreement with your ex-partner, unless an order says otherwise. You can do this by:

• making a parenting plan, or
• applying for consent orders.

As a parenting plan is not legally enforceable, you can’t create new legal obligations or change existing ones by making a parenting plan. If you change a parenting order with a parenting plan, that order will no longer be legally enforceable once the parenting plan has been signed by you and your ex-partner and it comes into force. If your ex-partner doesn’t follow the terms of the parenting plan it cannot be enforced, and they can’t be penalised by a court for breaching the parenting plan. If you want to make changes to your parenting orders that are legally enforceable, you will need to apply for consent orders.

Before you update your parenting orders with a parenting plan or consent orders, you should get legal advice. You must understand what your legal obligations will be under your new agreement and how the changes will affect any orders that you want to keep.

If you and the other parent can’t agree on how to change your parenting orders, you will need to follow the usual process for resolving parenting disputes and comply with the pre-action procedures, unless you are exempt.

If you and your ex-partner still can’t agree after you have followed the pre-action procedures, you will need to apply to the Court to change your parenting orders. The Court must not reconsider your parenting orders unless:

• there has been a significant change of circumstances since your parenting orders were made, and
• in all the circumstances, it is in the best interests of your child for the Court to reconsider your parenting orders.

For more information, see Changing parenting arrangements on the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia website.

Notifying Services Australia

If you change your parenting agreement and you have a child support assessment, you must notify Services Australia within 28 days as this may affect your child support assessment and entitlements to Centrelink benefits.

You must notify Services Australia of any changes to your contact details, income, relationship status or care arrangements for your child.

If you don’t, and you pay child support, you may:

• pay too much
• not pay enough and build up a debt.

If you receive child support, you may:

• get paid late
• not be paid enough
• get paid too much and have to pay back money.

You may also incur a debt with Centrelink that you have to pay back.

For more information, see Child support.