Parenting Coordination and Family Law Parenting Orders

After lengthy legal proceedings to obtain Parenting Orders, it can be disheartening for parents when one parent continues to act in a way that is not supported by the Orders; for example, by using abusive language, denigrating the other parent, or otherwise doing or failing to do particular things with or around the children.

Although the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) contains provisions that allow a parent to take the ‘offending’ parent to court for alleged breaches of Parenting Orders, the threat of court proceedings doesn’t always deter this behaviour. Very commonly, the court acts leniently towards the offending parent because fining, imprisoning, or imposing some other sanction on a parent always carries the risk that it could harm the children. 

A potential solution to this problem is for the parents to jointly engage a Parenting Coordination (‘PC’) service. PC is an alternate dispute resolution technique that assists parents in effectively communicating, managing and resolving conflicts related to Parenting Orders and Parenting Plans. Parenting coordinators help co-parents by establishing clear rules for engagement, encouraging cooperation and curtailing hostility. The intention is to resolve disputes outside of court, and avoid the stresses and cost of further court applications.

In practice, if Orders state that the parents are not to use abusive language in communications with each other and one parent continues to do so after the Orders are made, then the parenting coordinator can stop and advise the parent that their behaviour may be in breach of the Orders, remind them of the sanctions the Court might impose, counsel the parent on how to appropriately communicate in that matter, and seek to be copied into future communications to minimise recurrent events.

Another advantage of PC is that none of the parents’ interactions with the parenting coordinator are protected by any confidentiality or immunity. Therefore if the ‘abusive’ parent continues to use abusive language even after conversations with the parenting coordinator, these communications can be presented to a Judge.

For these reasons PC services are certainly increasing in popularity amongst our clients and are an incredibly useful resource for parents seeking to enforce Parenting Orders or Parenting Plans outside of court.

Madeline Crnkovic, Law Student and Paralegal at Zande Law Solicitors, Suite 9, Norwinn Centre, 15 Discovery Drive, North Lakes, is the author of this article, training 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.