Both parents need to authorise a passport to be issued for their children.

If you have an order for sole decision making you can ask the Australian passport office to issue a passport without the consent of the other parent.

If, however you have the following order in a parenting order, it makes it a much easier process to issue a passport for a child in circumstances where the other parent does not consent or fails to sign necessary documents.

1. 1. Pursuant to section 11(1)(b)(i) of the Australian Passports Act 2005 (Cth), the (Parent) is permitted and authorized by this Order to apply for and obtain a passport/Australian Travel Documents for the child without requiring the consent of the other parent and the passport is to issue from the Australian Passport Office notwithstanding that one of the parents have failed to sign all documents necessary to do so.
2. The passport of the child is to remain with the (Parent). The (parent) will provide the passport to the (other parent) at least 14 days prior to travel. Upon the return of the (other parent) he/she will return the passport to the( parent).
3. For the purposes of section 65Y of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) the (Parent) is   permitted   to   take,   remove   or   send   the   child   from   the Commonwealth  of  Australia  to  travel  internationally,  for  the  purposes  of  a holiday with the (parent) or for educational purposes without the written consent of the (other parent).

This last order is a good one to have as it is an offence to travel with a child internationally without the written consent of the other parent. This order can be made a mutual order in which case it would say:

For the purposes of section 65Y of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth each parent  is   permitted   to   take,   remove   or   send   the   child   from   the Commonwealth  of  Australia  to  travel  internationally,  for  the  purposes  of  a holiday or for educational purposes) without the written consent of the (other parent), provided such trouble is in accordance with these orders.

Good to know

If there is a dispute over who holds the passport, you can seek an order that the passport is to be held at the closest Registry of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia. Registries discourage this practice however, as the holding of lots of passports takes up space and takes up time. Parents also need to factor in getting the passport from the registry.

An alternative to example order 2 above is:

“The passport is to remain with the parent who last travelled with the child until such time as the passport is required for travel with the other parent in which case the parent who holds the passport will ensure the other parent has the child's passport at least 14 days prior to travel. On the return of the parent from overseas travel that parent will retain the passport until it is required by the other parent.”

There is no presumption in family law that children should live in a shared care arrangement. Every child is unique and what may suit one child may not suit another, even in the same family. What parenting arrangement is best for a particular child depends on things like their age, the ability of the parents to communicate and co-parent, the level of conflict between the parents, whether there are any risks to the child in the care of other parent, how far away the parents live from each other; and so on.

As a general rule of thumb in cases where parents are in high conflict, and/or there are risks such as violence, drugs, alcohol, mental health and the like, a court would be unlikely to order a shared care arrangement.

The age of the child

Young children (under 5) may not cope well with a shared care arrangement. Very young children need a primary base with the person with whom they have their primary attachment. It does not mean that they shouldn’t spend lots of time with the other parent provided they are safe. Young children need to spend lots of time with the other parent to develop their attachment. The best sort of time for young children is short periods of time but frequently. Young children often do not cope well with overnights, as staying overnight away from their primary parent can jeopardise their attachment. The best parenting arrangements made for young children acknowledge that they do need the primary base and that will allow them to better develop their relationship with the other parent.

Primary school age children usually cope better with a shared care arrangement but parents need to be able to communicate with each other about all the sorts of issues that arise when children move between homes.

The same applies for high school age children with the additional consideration that teenagers are starting to exert their independence, and other interests take priority over time with parents.

How well parents communicate, and share values

Any parenting arrangement will work better if parents are able to communicate with each other. Many issues arise when children move between homes and parents need to be able to navigate these issues without exposing the children to conflict.

Whether it is equal or otherwise a parenting arrangement will also work better if parents are on the same page with their parenting values, for example that there is agreement about bedtime, household chores, time on devices, homework and so on. To note - These sorts of issues are rarely spelled out in court orders. The court considers that sort of detail is unnecessary in a court order. These sorts of matters could however be documented in a separate parenting plan where you are free to include whatever you want that relates to the parenting of children.

Here are some things to think about.

The How, When and What of communication

How will parents communicate with each other about these issues? You should establish this and include it in your orders. For example you might agree to communicate by text unless it is an emergency in which case it will be by phone; or you could use email, or you could communicate using one of the many different parenting apps.

When will you communicate? On a weekly basis as a wrap up of the week and a means to let the other parent know what is coming up? In addition, as things arise?

You might also consider putting timeframes on your communication to establish your expectations. For example, if a parent sends a written communication the other parent undertakes to respond within…24 hours if it is important? 7 days if it is not? You could agree to specify what time frame you would like a response by and make sure it is clear for each topic.

What will you communicate? How detailed will you each be? Something that seems to cause a lot of conflict is when one parent communicates as if they are telling the other parent how to parent in their time.

Here are some example orders:

The parents will communicate by text/email/app in the first instance unless it is an emergency in which case they will communicate by telephone.

The parent with whom the children have lived with for the week or send the other parent a short communication on Sunday informing the other parent of any information necessary for the coming week.

Each parent will inform the other if the child is hospitalised or requires medical treatment.

What is the actual arrangement?

Orders for an equal shared parenting arrangement, must specify what the arrangement looks like. For example is it week about? Or some other configuration? The change over day, time, and location should ideally be specified. An order could provide for parents to agree these things but a sensible parenting order contains a fall back position.

For example - “the change over location that does not occur at school will take place at a location agreed between the parents but failing agreement at… ( a particular place).

An example of an equal time order is:

The children shall live with each parent in a week about shared care arrangements with changeovers to take place from the conclusion of school on Fridays*.

Changeovers that do not occur at school will take place at a location agreed between the parents but failing agreement at… ( a particular place ).

*There is no right or wrong answer as to when the changeover should take place, it is always what is best for your child. Some parents think it's best for the changeover to be after school on Friday so that children have the whole weekend to settle into the other parent’s home before the school week begins. Whereas other parents might suggest that the changeovers take place at school on Monday morning. If so, orders should also provide what will happen if Monday is a public holiday as it often is.

Here are some other examples of equal shared care arrangements:

The 2/2/5/5/ model

Over a fortnight: two nights with parent 1, two nights with parent 2, five nights with parent 1, five nights with parent 2.

Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat Sun

M M D D M M M

M M D D D D D

The advantage of this model is that the children spend the same week night with the same parent from Monday to Thursday but then they alternate weekends. Another advantage is that the children are not away from each parent for more than 5 nights at a time. This is also a good arrangement if the children have an extra-curricular activity that always falls on a the same week day, the same parent would take them each week. It's also good to be able to have alternate weekends.

The disadvantage is that there are a lot of changeovers which some children could find confusing.

The order

The children shall live with each parent in a shared care arrangement as follows:

1. a) Over a fortnight, with the mother each Monday and Tuesdays and with the father each Wednesday and Thursday;
2. b) In week one of a fortnight, with the Mother from Friday to Monday morning;
3. c) In week 2 of a fortnight, with the Father from Friday to Monday morning;
4. d) with changeovers to take place at school ( as applicable).

The 3/3/1 model

Children spend the first three nights with one parent, the next three nights with the other and then the remaining day is alternated. For example, with the mother on Monday Tuesday Wednesday, with the father on Thursday Friday Saturday then in one week the Sunday is spent with the father and the following week the Sunday spent with the mother.

This has the same advantage to the earlier model of spending the same week night with the same parent and it might be a better arrangement as there are less changeovers. The disadvantage is that children do not get to spend an entire weekend with one parent.

The order is drafted the same way as the earlier model just substitute the days.

The Rolling days model

The children spend a certain number of nights with each parent and then the same number of with the other parent, for example three nights with Dad, then three nights with Mum, and so on. Overtime each parent gets to have time on weekends. The advantage is that the children are not away from each parent for longer than the specified number of nights. A disadvantage is that there are more changeovers, whole weekends do not come around quickly, and it may be confusing.

“The children shall live with each parent in a shared care arrangement such that The children spend three nights with one parent, then the next three nights with the other parent, and so on”

Fortnight about

This may work better for some children particularly if they find it difficult to settle into each home, as it gives them longer to do so before changing homes. This would usually not work for younger children who need to see each parent more regularly.

A 6/8 model – 6 nights with one parent, 8 with the other

Although this is not a strictly equal shared time arrangement, it is very close to being so.

Here are some other things to think about.

• who will be the responsible parent to be contacted on the day of changeover. For example if the changeover is Monday morning, with Mum dropping the children off Monday morning and Dad collecting them Monday afternoon for his week, what if the child is unwell and needs to go home during the day?
• Shared care arrangements require a lot of planning and organisation. Young children in particular need a lot of support to make sure that possessions travel easily between homes and they have everything they need for the school week. How will you discuss these things?
• What about extracurricular activities. You will need to agree what these extracurricular activities will be if they are weekly because you each need to be committed to taking your child to the activity, in your week.
• Will you each allow your child to contact the other parent during your time?

These are just some examples of the sorts of issues that arise for children when they live in a shared care arrangement. Some children will flourish in a shared care arrangement. Some children will see it as fair that they get to spend equal time with each parent. However other children just don't move easily between homes.

Children will do best in a shared care arrangement where:

• there is an absence of conflict between their parents, or if there is conflict they are completely shielded from it.
• their parents are united in their parenting goals and expectations;
• Their parents are civil whenever the children are around;
• Their parents never speak unkindly about the other parent of their family; and
• are able to co parent respectfully.

Yes, however the first thing we need to clarify is that when we talk about rights, it is the right of a child to have a meaningful relationship with a grandparent, not the right of the grandparent to have a relationship with the child. This might sound pedantic but it is an important distinction and one that you will need to know if you end up being self-represented.

The good news is, the Family Law Act specifically recognises that children have a right to spend time on a regular basis with, and communicate on a regular basis with, both their parents and other people significant to their care, welfare and development such as grandparents and other relatives. s60B(2)(b).

Grandparents are specifically included in the list of people who can apply to the court for a parenting order. S65C(ba).

Everything that is done for children in the family law context is in accordance with what is in the child's best interests. The Family Law Act tells us how the court determines what's in a child's best interests and the factors that specifically mention grandparents are:

• the nature of the relationship of the child with other people including any grandparent. s60CC(3)(b)(ii);
• the likely effect if any change in the child’s circumstances including the likely effect of any separation from a grandparent with whom he or she has been living: s60CC(3)(d)(ii);
• the capacity of a grandparent to provide for the needs of the child including emotional and intellectual needs; s60CC(3)(f)(ii); and
• the court must consider the child's right to enjoy his or her culture including the right to enjoy that culture with other people who share it, which is often grandparents. s60CC(3)(h)(i);

One of the things a court will also decide is parental responsibility, in other words making decisions in relation to major issues for a child. The court will make an order for a grandparent to have parental responsibility, if that is in the child's best interests.

Grandparents have a very important role to play in the life of a child. If parents are unable to care for a child for any reason, the next best option is often a grandparent.

The usual cases we see is when the parent of your grandchild is not your son or daughter. The other common scenario is when you have taken on the role of caring for your grandchild because of either your own child's inability to do so or the other parent or both, and then they consider they are now able to resume care of the child and you do not think it is in your grandchild's best interests.

It is important to seek legal advice if there's any family law dispute involving your grandchild.