- Relationship break up
- Separation & divorce
- Care of children
- About Family Court
- Family violence
- Relationship property
If you want to apply to the Family Court, you usually need to have attended a Parenting Through Separation course within the last two years and Family Dispute Resolution mediation within the last 12 months.
IF IT’S URGENT - If you need a court decision urgently (without notice), you can make a without notice application. The judge will consider the application straight away. If you think you need urgent help, you may find it helpful to see a lawyer about making an urgent application for you. Find out more about urgent help
You can apply for a Parenting Order if there’s a dispute about who looks after the children and when (day-to-day care) or when parents and others see the children (contact). Day-to-day care used to be called "custody" and contact used to be called "access".
You can apply for an Order to Settle a Dispute between Guardians if you want the Family Court to make decisions about guardianship issues. These issues include where the children live, where they go to school, medical treatment (other than routine medical matters), what their culture, language and religion will be and any changes to their name.
You can also apply for a Supervised Contact Order
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For a Parenting Order, you’ll need to pay $220 to the court. You can ask the court to waive (cancel) the fee if paying it would cause you financial hardship.
Find out more about getting help to pay the court fees
Applying for an Order to Settle a Dispute between Guardians is free.
You and the other people involved in your case may have to pay some of the court costs.
Find out more about Cost Contribution Orders
How to apply
If you need help to fill in the forms, you can call us or visit your local court
Find out more about affidavits and statutory declarations
How long an Order lasts depends on the type of Order that the court makes.
If you think you need urgent help, you may find it helpful to see a lawyer about making an urgent application for you.