Parenting Plans – how to navigate the best interests of the child where parents have separated
Section 9 of the Children’s Act (“the Act”) states that the best interests of the child is paramount in all matters involving the child. It is easy to lose sight of this where parents split up. A parenting plan can help to put personal differences aside and arrange the required collaboration to ensure that the child’s best interests will be protected.
The Act discourages holders of parental rights and responsibilities from approaching the court as a first resort when difficulty in exercising these rights and responsibilities arise. Mediation is encouraged, and is a prerequisite, before a court is approached.
A parenting plan is an agreement between parents that sets out how parental rights and responsibilities will be exercised after separating. The best interest of the child must always be at the forefront when drafting the agreement. This agreement is used to formalise various issues, such as care, contact, financial contributions, schooling, religious upbringing, rules and guidelines for discipline, etc. The plan may further formalise how parents will communicate with each other and the child and may even determine how new partners will be introduced to the child.
A comprehensive parenting plan should also have a dispute resolution section to determine how conflict and breaches will be dealt with. This may help to mitigate the need for intervention by courts.
Drawing up a plan can help parents to build a stable co-parenting relationship and sets clear guidelines to assist parents in raising their children and managing expectations. This agreement can also help to minimise potential conflict.
In order to draft the agreement, the parents may need to consult a neutral third party or mediator, such as a lawyer, social worker, psychologist or other suitably qualified person to assist with negotiating the content. The mediator will explore all aspects of family life to help determine the best interest of the child.
Children may be involved in the drafting process. Depending on their age and maturity, they may have some say in matters that affect them directly, such as who they will be living with primarily, how special occasions are to be spent etc.
Once an agreement has been reached, the plan will be lodged with the Office of the Family Advocate or may be made an order of court. Should any parent fail to adhere to the agreement once made an order of court they will be in breach of the agreement and may be found to be in contempt of court. Penalties, fines, garnishee orders and even possible imprisonment may follow.
In most instances, parents will enter into a plan and merely abide by it without further issue, however, in some instances such as cases of high conflict separations or domestic violence, it is highly recommended that the plan be made an order of court in order to provide a higher level of accountability.
The plan needs to be reviewed regularly as children’s needs change over time. After every amendment, the plan must be approved by the court again or lodged with the Family Advocate.
It is important to keep in mind that every family’s dynamic will be different. As such, the plan must be drafted with the needs of each individual family in mind. A plan’s focus should be preserving the child’s relationship with both parents and to encourage involvement of both parents in the child’s life.