Breaching family court orders

If you can’t agree on arrangements for your children, then a court may have to issue an order.

Disobeying (breaching) a court order is a serious offence unless you have a reasonable excuse.

When you need legal advice

Get legal advice if:

  • you or your children are at risk of harm
  • one parent wants to move to another area this will make it more difficult for your children to spend time with the other parent
  • you have been accused of breaking a court order, or a court says you have broken an order
  • you have concerns for your children's safety if you return them to the other parent
  • your child hasn’t been returned to you—whether or not you have court orders
  • your court orders or arrangements for the children are not working and you want to change them.

How to get legal advice 

Reasonable excuse for breaching a court order

You should not break a court order unless you have a reasonable excuse. 

Under the Family Law Act, a ‘reasonable excuse’ has a legal meaning. You have a reasonable excuse for breaching a court order if:

  • you believed you had to—to protect someone’s health or safety, or
  • you didn’t understand you were breaking the order at the time.

What if my children don’t want to visit their other parent?

There’s no set age when children can decide where they live, or who they spend time with or communicate with. If the children refuse to visit, you still need to encourage them to spend time with the other parent or other people who are important to them, unless there is a risk to them.

If there’s a court order saying the children should spend time with the other parent and they don’t want to go, you should get legal advice. If the dispute ends up in court, it will consider the children’s age and their maturity when making a decision.

What if a parent doesn’t want to spend time with the children?

Parents don’t have to spend time with or communicate with their children if they don’t want to. You or the court can’t force the other parent to spend time with their children, even if there are court orders in place. If you want the other parent to take more responsibility, you can try family counselling or dispute resolution.

What if the arrangements aren’t working?

If the arrangements for your child are no longer working, a court order will continue to apply until you get new consent orders, a new parenting order, or make a new parenting plan.

If the court orders are no longer working, you should get legal advice about how to change them. To make changes you can:

  • apply to court for the order to be changed or cancelled
  • talk to the other parent or other people involved about changing the arrangements if it is safe to do so.

What happens when a court order is broken?

The court has wide powers to deal with people who breach parenting orders and can, at any stage of proceedings:

  • make an order for make-up time to occur
  • change an existing parenting order, for example to compensate the other parent for any time lost with the children or to change other arrangements
  • suspend an existing parenting order
  • order a person to participate in a parenting program run by an approved counselling service to help them focus on their children’s needs and resolve any conflict.

If the court finds a person breached an order ‘on the balance of probabilities’ (which means more likely than not that something happened) without a reasonable excuse, it can make orders for a bond. A bond can include conditions that you follow the court orders for a period of time. A bond can also require you to pay the court money which you lose if you do not follow the order.

If the court finds a person breached an order beyond reasonable doubt without reasonable excuse, it can make orders for a fine or a jail term of up to 12 months.

If you’re accused of breaching a court order or you think someone else is breaching a court order, you should get legal advice.

How to get legal advice

We may give legal advice about making agreements for the arrangements for children.

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Disclaimer: This content is for general purposes only and not legal advice. If you have a legal problem, please contact us or speak to a lawyer. View our full disclaimer.

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