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Grandparents and Other Carers

Grandparents and other carers often play an important role in a child’s life. At Empower Family Law & Mediation we understand the importance of those relationships.

We regularly advise grandparents and other carers who seek a relationship with the children in their lives or to assume the care of a child on an interim or more permanent basis. We are experienced in this area, and we will listen and support you every step of the way.

The Family Law Act 1975 recognises the benefits to a child in having a meaningful relationship with significant people in their life, including grandparents. A person who can demonstrate an interest in the ‘care, welfare and development’ of a child can make an application to the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia for orders providing for the child to spend time in their care. The amount of time the child will be ordered to spend with the grandparents or carer depends on the circumstances and what is necessary to ensure the child’s best interests are met. In many cases it is possible to achieve a negotiated or mediated outcome, without the need to go to Court.

If you have found yourself unable to see your grandchild(ren), please contact us on (03) 7020 6542 to discuss your options.

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Your first 30-minute consultation is free. Call (03) 7020 6542 or contact our team to discuss your circumstances and next steps.

Phone: (03) 7020 6542

Email: info@empowerfamilylaw.com.au

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Who can apply for parenting orders

You do not have to be a parent. You can apply for a parenting order in relation to a child if you are a grandparent of the child, or if you are a person concerned with the care, welfare and development of the child.

That second category is deliberately wide. It can include a step-parent, an aunt or uncle, an adult sibling, or a close family friend who has been caring for the child. What matters is your actual connection to the child's care and wellbeing, not your legal relationship to them.

Parenting orders can provide for a child to live with you, to spend time or communicate with you, or for you to share in decisions about major long-term issues such as schooling and health care.

Kinship care

When a child cannot live with their parents, someone in the extended family or a family friend may become their primary carer. This is usually called kinship care.

Kinship carers do not have the defined role that parents do. A child might come to live with you for a short period until their parents are able to care for them again, or you might be raising them for the long term. Either way, practical problems tend to arrive quickly: enrolling a child at school, consenting to medical treatment, accessing payments or travelling with them can all require authority you do not formally hold. Parenting orders are the usual way of putting that authority in place.

What the Court weighs

The child's best interests are the paramount consideration. Among the matters the Court must consider is the benefit to the child of having a relationship with their parents and with other people who are significant to them, where it is safe to do so — which is where a long-standing relationship with a grandparent or carer is given weight.

The Court also considers the safety of the child and of each person who cares for them, any views the child expresses, the child's developmental, psychological, emotional and cultural needs, and the capacity of each proposed carer to meet those needs. For an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child, their right to connect with and enjoy their culture is a separate consideration.

How much time is ordered depends entirely on the circumstances and on what the child's interests require. In many cases an arrangement can be negotiated or mediated without going to court.

When there is no parent available to care for a child

The Court operates a Critical Incident List for applications filed where no parent is available to care for a child as a result of death, including homicide, critical injury, or incarceration relating to a family violence incident.

The List exists so that orders for parental responsibility can be made quickly, allowing the adult now caring for the child to do the things daily life requires — dealing with schools, engaging health care providers, and making decisions the child needs made. The procedure is set out in the Court's Family Law Practice Direction – Critical Incident List.

If you have found yourself caring for a grandchild or relative after a sudden event of this kind, this is the pathway to ask about, and it is worth asking about early.

One limit to be aware of

Support for carers

The Family Relationship Advice Line on 1800 050 321 provides free advice on parenting arrangements after separation, information about family dispute resolution, and referrals to local services, and it runs a legal advice line staffed by qualified lawyers. Family Relationships Online and the Raising Children website both have sections written specifically for grandparents and kinship carers, including material on helping a child settle into a new living arrangement.

The Court information on this page reflects the published guidance of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia on grandparents and others and children's matters, as at 26 October 2026. It is general information only, not legal advice, and does not replace advice about your own circumstances.

What an application usually involves

Knowing the shape of the process makes the first conversation more useful.

Before a parenting application can be filed, family dispute resolution is mandatory unless an exemption is granted, and that applies to grandparents and other carers in the same way it applies to parents. The practitioner must be registered with the Commonwealth Attorney-General's Department, and they issue the certificate the Court requires. Exemptions exist for circumstances including family violence and urgency, but they must be established rather than assumed.

Where agreement is reached at dispute resolution, it can be formalised as consent orders so the arrangement is enforceable rather than dependent on goodwill — which matters a great deal in family relationships that have already broken down once.

Where agreement cannot be reached, an application is filed and the matter is case-managed towards a hearing. Even then, matters frequently settle at a later stage, and you can submit consent orders at any point before the final hearing.

The evidence that tends to matter

Full and frank disclosure applies in parenting cases at every stage, and the relevant material is case-specific. For a grandparent or carer application it usually centres on the nature and history of your relationship with the child and on the child's current circumstances.

In practice that can include school reports and correspondence with the school, medical reports about the child, photographs and records of time spent together, and a clear chronology of the care you have actually provided and over what period. Where you have been the child's primary carer, records showing that — enrolments, appointments, who the school or doctor contacts — carry more weight than general statements about closeness.

If you obtain an expert report for the case, you must provide a copy to the other parties and to any Independent Children's Lawyer appointed. Where material is genuinely sensitive, the Court has power to order that a document, or part of it, not be produced because it would disclose a protected confidence.

If the Court appoints a lawyer for the child

In some cases the Court appoints an Independent Children's Lawyer. They do not act for any party and do not take instructions from the child. Their role is to form an independent view of what arrangements are in the child's best interests and put that to the Court, which can include arranging reports and gathering material from schools, doctors or child protection authorities.

For grandparents and carers this is often helpful rather than adversarial: an ICL gathers evidence about the child's actual circumstances from sources with no stake in the family dispute, which can substantiate a caring relationship that the parents describe differently.

Support while the matter is on foot

Where family violence is part of the situation, Family Advocacy and Support Services provide free and confidential legal and social support to people with a family law matter, including duty lawyers and social support workers. It is available before, during and after court events, and you can use it even if you already have your own lawyer.

If you have any concerns about safety while attending court, tell the Court in advance rather than on the day. Arrangements can be put in place, and raising it early gives the Court time to organise them properly.

Court information in this section reflects the published guidance of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia, as at 27 October 2026. It is general information only, not legal advice.

Can a grandparent apply for orders about a grandchild?

Yes. You can apply for a parenting order in relation to a child if you are a grandparent of the child, or if you are a person concerned with the care, welfare and development of the child. That second category is deliberately wide and can include a step-parent, an aunt or uncle, an adult sibling, or a close family friend who has been caring for the child. What matters is your actual connection to the child's care and wellbeing, not your legal relationship to them. Parenting orders are often described as if they are only for parents, but the Act expressly contemplates orders in favour of people who are not parents of the child the proceedings concern.

What orders can be made in our favour?

Parenting orders can provide for a child to live with you, to spend time or communicate with you, or for you to share in decisions about major long-term issues such as schooling, health care and religion. How much time is ordered depends entirely on the circumstances and on what the child's interests require, so there is no standard grandparent allocation. In many cases an arrangement can be negotiated or mediated without going to court, which is usually faster, less expensive and far less damaging to the family relationships that will have to continue afterwards. Where agreement is reached, it can be formalised as consent orders so that the arrangement is enforceable rather than dependent on goodwill.

What weight does the Court give to a grandparent relationship?

Among the matters the Court must consider is the benefit to the child of having a relationship with their parents and with other people who are significant to them, where it is safe to do so. That is where a long-standing relationship with a grandparent or carer is given weight, and it is a consideration in its own right rather than an afterthought. The Court also considers what arrangements promote the safety of the child and each person caring for them, any views the child expresses, the child's developmental, psychological, emotional and cultural needs, and the capacity of each proposed carer to meet those needs. For an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child, their right to connect with and enjoy their culture is a separate consideration.

What is kinship care?

When a child cannot live with their parents, someone in the extended family or a family friend may become their primary carer, which is usually called kinship care. Kinship carers do not have the defined legal role that parents do. A child might come to live with you for a short period until their parents are able to care for them again, or you might be raising them for the long term. Either way, practical problems tend to arrive quickly: enrolling a child at school, consenting to medical treatment, accessing payments, or travelling with them can all require authority you do not formally hold. Parenting orders are the usual way of putting that authority in place so day-to-day decisions can be made.

A parent has died or is in prison. Can we get orders quickly?

Yes. The Court operates a Critical Incident List for applications filed in circumstances where no parent is available to care for a child as a result of death, including homicide, critical injury, or incarceration relating to a family violence incident. The List exists so that orders for parental responsibility can be made quickly, allowing the adult now caring for the child to do the things daily life requires: dealing with schools, engaging health care providers, and making the decisions a child needs made. The procedure is set out in the Court's practice direction for the Critical Incident List. If you have found yourself caring for a grandchild or relative after a sudden event of this kind, ask about this pathway early.

What if child protection is already involved?

If the child is in care under a state or territory child welfare law, the Court cannot make a parenting order about them except with the consent of the relevant child welfare authority, and that restriction applies even where the child comes into care after family law proceedings have already started. Where child protection is involved, the family law pathway and the child protection pathway have to be navigated together rather than separately, and decisions made in one can affect what is possible in the other. Tell your lawyer about any departmental involvement at the outset, including any investigation or order that is on foot, so the right pathway is chosen before costs are incurred in the wrong forum.