Apply for a Consent Order

If you want to, you and your ex-partner can ask the Family Court to make your parenting plan into a Consent Order. To make the Order, the judge must be satisfied that you both made the agreement willingly. The forms you fill in will give the judge information to confirm this.

If one of you doesn’t do what you’ve agreed, the Family Court can make the person pay a bond or compensation. If the person still doesn’t follow the Consent Order, then they may get charged with a crime and could be fined or jailed.

You usually need to complete the free Parenting Through Separation course before applying for a Consent Order. If your circumstances prevent you from participating in the course, you can let the court know when you apply, and the judge will consider your reasons.

On this page:

Fees & costs

To get a Consent Order, you’ll need to pay $220 to the court. You can ask the court to waive (cancel) the fee if paying it would cause you financial hardship. This means you won’t have to pay the fee.

You and the other people involved in your case may have to pay some of the court costs.

Find out more about:

How to apply

Note: When you print the forms it's important to print them single sided.

Fill in these two forms:

Joint application to make a new Parenting Order by consent [PDF, 736 KB]

General consent memorandum relating to children [PDF, 460 KB]
You'll also need to include your Parenting Through Separation certificate, or give reasons why you can't take part in the programme.
File your application. You need to do this yourself. You can’t get a lawyer to file an application for a Consent Order. Find out more about how to file documents

Legal advice and help

You don’t legally need to get help from a lawyer to get a Consent Order. However, you might find it helpful to talk to one to help you understand your rights and responsibilities when you make a Consent Order.