Child Custody in Australia: What Actually Gets Decided

Who gets the children when parents separate in Australia? There is no rule that children go to one parent, and no preference based on whether you are their mother or their father. Village Family Lawyers explains what is actually decided, and why custody is not the term Australian family law uses for parenting arrangements. This episode covers the two separate questions that replaced it, where a child lives and who makes the significant long-term decisions, and what each of sole custody, joint custodyand full custody usually means when someone says it. It also addresses the belief that keeps people living in a difficult house for months. Moving out does not, by itself, decide where your children live. Calm, plain English, and specific to Australian family law. Key takeaways Custody is not the term Australian family law uses for parenting arrangements. Two separate questionsreplaced it: where a child lives and spends time, and parental responsibility, meaning who makes the significant long-term decisions. Those two do not have to sit with the same parent. A child can live mainly with one parent while both continue making the big decisions together. There is no rule that children go to their mother, and no rule that young children go to one parent. What shapes an arrangement is practical rather than gendered. Since May 2024 there is no presumption of equal shared parental responsibility. There has never been apresumption of equal time in Australia. What changed is that courts are no longer required to consider equal time as a step in the process. Moving out of the family home does not, by itself, decide where children live. A long-running informalarrangement can carry some weight later. Book a free 15-minute DiscoveryOnline Booking : https://villagefamilylawyers.com.au/booking-request/ Call: 1300 413 997 Parenting Arrangements:https://villagefamilylawyers.com.au/service/parenting-arrangements/ Search terms child custody Australia, who gets the children after separation, parenting arrangements Victoria, parentalresponsibility Australia, sole custody Australia, joint custody meaning, does the mother always get the children, custody vs parenting arrangements, family lawyer Mornington Peninsula, village family lawyers