In today’s Family Law Fundamentals we’re going to take a look at parenting orders as defined in Part VII, Division 5 of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) (“the Act”). Part VII of the Act deals with children’s matters in general, and s.64B (in Division 5 of Part VII), defines what a parenting order is. A parenting order may deal with one or more of the following:
Welcome to our series of articles on Family Law Fundamentals. We’re going to start by looking at the stated objectives of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) (“the Act”), and the provisions of the legislation which put those objectives into operation in a practical sense. The place to start is s.60CA of the Act, which requires that the court must regard the best interests of the child as the paramount consideration. But just was is in a child’s best interests? How does the court decide? What factors are considered? OBJECTIVES OF THE ACT The objects and principles of the Act are outlined in s.60B. To summarise, s.60B(1) states that object of this Part of the Act (Part VII – Children) is to ensure that the child’s best interests are met by: Ensuring that children have the benefit of both parents having a meaningful involvement in their lives; Protecting children from physical ...