AUSTRALIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Paul Doolan, Melinda Winning, Carly Middleton and Jeff Marhinin, Barkus Doolan Winning
pursuant to the Family Law Act by either the other parent or by the child themselves after a child turns 17 years old. Such proceedings are relatively rare, because most parents and their “adult” children usually reach an agreement about the level of support. The case law sug - gests that courts are not inclined to make sub - stantial monetary awards in relation to adult child maintenance, as “adult” children have an obliga - tion to try and support themselves through paid employment if that can feasibly be undertaken. 3.3 Other Matters Parenting Responsibility Under the Family Law Act Each of the parents of a child has parental responsibility for the making of decisions in rela - tion to the care, welfare and development of that child. Where parties are separated, they are encour - aged to try and reach agreement, whether direct - ly or through family dispute resolution, about issues that might arise in relation to the long- term care of a child such as education, medical treatment or religious upbringing. If parties can - not reach agreement about those matters, then courts exercising jurisdiction of the Family Law Act can make orders allocating parental respon - sibility in whole or in part to one of the parents or to another person who has an interest in the welfare of the child. Determination of what is in a child’s best inter - ests is undertaken on a case-by-case basis, and is governed by the paramount consideration of what is in the child’s best interests. If the case requires expert evidence, then the court will ordinarily appoint an expert in the relevant field to provide a written report to the court, giving consideration to the matter and making a rec - ommendation where appropriate. Recommen -
dations by an expert may be persuasive, but they are not determinative of the outcome. They simply constitute evidence that, if relevant, is to be taken into account by the court in reaching its conclusion as to what is in the best interests of the child. Concept of Parental Alienation The term “parental alienation” is one often raised by parties, but is not a phrase endorsed by the courts nor reflected in the Australian legislation. The Family Law Act requires consideration, on a case-by-case basis, of what is in the best inter - ests of the child and the focus of the court is on the conduct and behaviour of the parties and the parties’ children, rather than on imposing simplistic labels on behaviour. The intention is to avoid the imposition of labels, such as “paren - tal alienation”, which may be suggestive of an outcome. Courts are at times faced with a situation where a child rejects one parent and there are series of considerations under the Family Law Act to ana - lyse the circumstances giving rise to the situa - tion. Tools can be deployed to try and readdress matters including through family therapy. Australian courts are alive to the potential misuse by some parents who deploy the term “paren - tal alienation” as a step in coercive control. By way of example, studies have shown that par - ents who act protectively in the best interests of their children by limiting the contact that child or children have with a perpetrator of family vio - lence are often accused by that other parent of engaging in “parental alienation” (finding of the Queensland Women’s Safety and Justice Task - force).
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