- Reviewed by Rowena Ferrall, Principal Lawyer at Ferrall & Co Lawyers in Caloundra, Queensland.
- Last-reviewed date: April 2026
-
Sources: Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia, Queensland Government legal resources, and local Sunshine Coast legal services.
People often look for a parenting consent orders example when organising parenting. They usually want an arrangement that’s:
Legally enforceable.
Relatively quick and affordable.
Flexibility to meet individual needs.
Parenting Consent Orders Preparation Checklist
A discussion checklist to organise your thinking before drafting proposed consent orders or seeing a family lawyer. Not a draft order or legal advice.
1. Reaching agreement
2. Parental responsibility
3. Living arrangements
4. Time with each parent
5. Communication and practical details
6. Drafting and review
7. Application to the FCFCOA
Disclaimer, privacy and review information
General information only. This checklist is not legal advice, a draft consent order, or a substitute for advice from a family lawyer. Family law outcomes depend on your circumstances. Speak with a family lawyer before submitting an application, particularly if your matter involves family violence, child safety risk, urgency, or relocation.
Privacy: Progress is saved only in your browser via local storage. No data is sent to Ferrall & Co or any server.
Author: Ferrall & Co content team. Reviewed by: Rowena Ferrall, Principal, Ferrall & Co. Last reviewed: April 2026. Next review: October 2026.
That sounds like a consent order. This guide aims to show how consent orders are put together. That can make it easier for you to put an arrangement into your own words. Consent orders may also avoid some of the delays that can come with contested proceedings. Going over some examples can make it easier to see what draft orders may look like and consider how they could fit your circumstances.
Key takeaways
What do parenting consent orders include?
Consent orders are generally cheaper than other legal options. They’re also often completed sooner. Litigation can take a long time and cost a lot of money. Parties may need to hire additional professionals, such as independent children’s lawyers and family consultants.
Most parents go through the same basic steps to create proposed consent orders. Here’s what the process generally entails:
Form an agreement. Parents often start by trying to reach agreement on what they want their co-parenting arrangement to be.
Put it in writing. Create a parenting plan that sets out all the details you’ve agreed to.
Seek legal advice. It can be useful to have a family lawyer review your draft orders to check whether they are likely to meet the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (FCFCOA) requirements. You may also be able to get free legal advice from a Legal Aid office or a community legal centre.
Complete the application. The application form is available on the FCFCOA website. Read the instructions carefully before filling it out.
Submit online. Once the application is completed, you may submit it electronically through the Commonwealth Courts Portal. Make sure you include any necessary supporting documents, such as a Notice of child abuse, family violence or risk. You may need to pay a filing fee, unless you have an exemption.
Wait for the Court’s decision. Processing times vary depending on the Court’s workload. You can check the FCFCOA website for current timeframes. Parties usually do not need to attend court for the application to be decided.
What consent orders cover
Consent orders usually account for two primary aspects of parenting:
Parental responsibility.
Living arrangements.
Parental responsibility
Parental responsibility refers to the major decisions that parents make for the long-term development of their children. This can include issues, such as:
Healthcare decisions.
Educational decisions.
Religious or cultural instruction.
Living arrangements
Parents decide where their children will spend time and who will be responsible for day-to-day care. This may include matters such as:
What days the child will spend with each parent.
Whether one parent will have primary care and the other parent will have scheduled visits.
What will happen during school holiday periods.
How the parents will handle special occasions like children’s birthdays.
Additional details
Many consent orders include other details to ensure that the orders adequately serve the parents’ purposes. These may include:
How the parents will communicate.
How disputes will be handled.
How much notice is required if one parent needs to temporarily change the agreement.
What will happen if one parent needs to relocate.
What's not included
Parenting orders won’t deal with financial issues. Property settlements and spousal maintenance may be handled through a separate property order. Child support is generally handled separately as well through an assessment with Services Australia, which is Australia’s child support agency.
Altering parenting orders
Court orders for parenting arrangements aren’t generally easy to change once they’re granted. However, the Family Law Act allows for alterations under section 65DAAA in the following circumstances:
The parents have agreed to the change.
There’s been a significant change in circumstances.
Altering the order would be in the child’s best interests.
Section 65DAAA was added to the Family Law Act through the Family Law Amendment Act 2023. It permits the Court to consider what’s in the child’s best interests by considering relevant factors, such as:
Why the original parenting order was granted and what material it was based on.
Any new material that’s available that was unavailable at the time the original parenting order was created.
The likelihood that a reconsideration would result in a new order that’s significantly different.
How the reconsideration would impact the child.
Parenting consent orders example
The following are hypothetical examples for illustration only. Names, dates and details are fictional and do not refer to any real person or proceeding.
Let’s go through some examples of what terms could be included, and how they might be worded. It’s important to make sure that the terms are unambiguous so that there’s no confusion about what’s expected of each party.
Parental responsibility examples
Parent A and Parent B will have joint decision-making responsibility regarding major long-term issues for the child John Smith, born 3 April 2015.
Parent A will have sole responsibility for all decisions regarding major long-term issues for the child, John Smith, born 3 April 2015.
Parent B will have sole responsibility for making decisions regarding the following major long-term issues:
The child’s health.
The child’s education.
Care arrangement examples
The child, John Smith, born 3 April 2015, will live with Parent A.
The child, John Smith, born 3 April 2015, will live with Parent B on alternating weekends.
Visitation examples
The child, John Smith, born 3 April 2015, will spend time with Parent B as follows:
On alternating Saturdays from 9 am to 5 pm.
The first week of each school holiday after each term. The time will begin at 9 am on the day after the last day of the school term.
Alternate Christmas days starting from 2 pm on 24 December and ending at 9 am on 26 December.
The child’s birthday on alternate years, from 9 am to 5 pm. This won’t apply if it lands on a school day.
Additional detail examples
Parent A and Parent B will use email as the primary source of communication.
Each parent must give 24 hours’ notice if they will be unavailable for a scheduled visit.
In the event of a dispute, each parent will inform the other party of their perspective in an email. If the dispute can’t be resolved, the parents will attend mediation with a provider agreed to by both parents.
Parenting plan versus consent orders
Parenting plans and consent orders can both be viable options under different circumstances. Here’s how they generally stack up:
Availability. Both are available to married couples and partners in a de facto relationship.
Enforceability. Consent orders typically offer more legal protection. They can be enforced in court if they’re breached. Parenting plans are informal written agreements. Parties usually can’t be legally compelled to follow them.
Scope. Parenting plans and consent orders have equivalent scope. Neither of them usually deals with financial support like child maintenance or other property matters.
Cost. Proposed orders have a filing fee that may be waived in some cases. Parties may also seek legal advice during the process.
From our clients
Rowena and her team at Ferrall & Co went above and beyond to help me achieve what no other firm I previously engaged were able to do. Not only that, it was achieved in a timely and cost-effective manner in comparison, with clear and effective guidance throughout. If you are looking for results based legal representation, and a firm that really cares about your situation, I would highly recommend. A+++
- J.W.
Conclusion
Consent orders are a popular option for parents who need a legally binding way to handle parenting matters. They offer certain potential benefits over options like litigation and parenting plans. A few parenting consent orders examples can give you a good idea of what the proposed orders may look like. That helps make applications more straightforward. You may also side-step some common mistakes.
Are you looking for legal advice on an application for consent orders?
Our team can assist with a range of family law matters. Contact us if you’re interested in setting up a free consultation.
