Joint Parental Responsibility and Medical Treatment

If you have a Court Order or Parenting Plan that states that yourself and your ex-partner have ‘Joint Parental Responsibility’ or ‘Joint Decision-Making Responsibility’ for your children, this means that yourself and your ex-partner must take all reasonable steps to confer and agree on long term decisions for the children. These types of decisions include, but are not limited to, choice of the children’s name, religion, schooling and medical care. However, what happens if parents cannot agree on whether the child should attend for a medical diagnosis or where the child should receive care?

In circumstances where a child needs medical treatment for a less serious and temporary ailment such as the flu or a scraped knee, this can arguably be dealt with unilaterally by one parent. When making these decisions, it is important to still ensure that the terms of the Court Order/ Parenting Plan are consulted, the other parent is still notified, and clear communication is shared about the medical treatment, diagnosis and any ongoing medical treatment that may be required.

On the other hand, where a formal diagnosis for a more serious condition which requires ongoing accommodations is sought (for example, Autism Spectrum Disorder and/or Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) this requires joint agreement from both parents.

If the parents are not in agreement, and the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia has not already made an Order on this issue, then an application could be made to the Court for the Court to adjudicate on the matter. The Court will often make one of the following three Orders:

An Order providing one parent sole parental decision making responsibility for all issues;

An Order providing for a specific determination on the matter at hand; or

An Order providing one parent sole parental decision making responsibility for one specific issue.

It is more common for the Court to make an Order in line with options 2 or 3, which still leaves the parents with ‘Joint Decision-Making Responsibility’ in respect of all other matters.

Alternatively, rather than progressing the matter to Court, the parents could attend at mediation or other forms of dispute resolution to discuss the matter.

Bethany Bellion, Solicitor at Zande Law Solicitors, Suite 9, Norwinn Centre, 15 Discovery Drive, North Lakes, is the author of this article, practising in the areas of Wills, Estates and Family Law.

The information in this article is merely a guide and is not a full explanation of the law. This firm cannot take responsibility for any action readers take based on this information. When making decisions that could affect your legal rights, please contact us for professional advice.

Next Article: Avoiding The Snowball Effect: Joint Parental Responsibility and Medical Treatment