From the inception of the Family Law Act in 1975 until 1995, the Family Law Act used the terms “custody” and “access”.
These terms were changed to “residence” and “contact” in 1995, and then to “live with” and “spend time with” in 2007.
The Federal Government’s reasoning behind these changes were to move away from any sense that children were “property”, and that the real issue was allocating children’s time between their parents, whether that be on an equal basis, or otherwise.
Despite the language changes to the Family Law Act, many clients inquire about “full custody” of children.
This is now interpreted as “I want parenting orders that say the children live with me”.
Obtaining parenting orders that the children live with you can happen one of two ways – Consent Orders or Litigated Orders.
Consent orders, as the word “consent” implies, occurs where parents agree on the terms and conditions of the division of the children’s time between the parents. These terms are then prepared in the terminology of legally binding orders and together with a request that the family law court make such orders, they are sent to the family law court for approval.
Litigated orders occur as a result of parents being unable to agree on terms and conditions of the division of the children’s time between their parents and one of the parents applies to a family law court for the court to decide, and make orders, as to what those terms and conditions should be.
Freedom Law enables parents to achieve both Consent Orders and Litigated Orders. Call us today for an in person or e-consultation.