If you searched for visitation rights, you used the words almost everyone uses. They are not the words Australian law uses, and closing that gap is the fastest way to a straight answer.
So here it is. There is no such thing as a visitation right in Australia. No parent owns a right to a child. What the law gives you instead is the ability to apply for time with a child, and almost anyone genuinely involved in that child’s life can ask. Whether you get that time, and how much, turns on one question the court asks first: is the arrangement safe for the child?
Two questions follow. Can you apply, and how does it work?
Can you get time with the child?
Eligibility first, because most pages bury it under process.
You can apply if:
- You are a parent, whether or not the child lives with you.
- You are a grandparent.
- You are anyone else concerned with the child’s care, welfare or development: a step-parent, an aunt raising the child, a long-term carer.
You will struggle, or be refused, if:
- A court is not satisfied the arrangement is safe for the child or for the person caring for them.
- There is a history of family violence, abuse or neglect involving the child or their carer.
- A family violence order covers the child or the family, or has covered them in the past.
None of those three is an automatic ban. Each one shifts what a court is willing to order, and it often means time that is limited or supervised rather than refused.
Safety is the first question the court asks, not the last.
Who may apply for a parenting order is set out in section 65C of the Family Law Act 1975. Safety, family violence history and family violence orders sit in section 60CC(2)(a) and (2A) of the same Act.
Australia does not use the word ‘visitation’
You are not wrong for typing it. It just does not exist here, and using the local words changes the answers you get.
Australian parenting orders deal with four main things: who a child lives with, the time a child spends with another person, the communication a child has with another person, and parental responsibility, which is the authority to make long-term decisions about schooling, health and religion.
The swap list:
- ‘Visitation’ becomes the time a child spends time with a person.
- ‘Custody’ becomes who the child lives with, plus parental responsibility for decisions.
- ‘Access’ becomes spending time with, or communicating with, the child.
- A ‘visitation schedule’ becomes a parenting plan if you agree to it privately, or a parenting order if a court makes it.
One correction while we are here, because older pages still get this wrong. There is no longer a presumption of equal shared parental responsibility when making parenting orders. Both parents have parental responsibility automatically when a child is born, but the presumption of it being equally shared was removed by the Family Law Amendment Act 2023, in force 6 May 2024. That means both parents naturally have parental responsibility, unless a court orders that only one parent does. And while there was never a direct presumption of equal time, the courts did consider this whenever equal shared parental responsibility was granted, which is why 50/50 week about became so prevalent in the last decade.
What a parenting order can deal with is set out in section 64B of the Family Law Act 1975.
How a court decides who spends time with the child
When parents cannot agree, a court weighs six considerations. In plain English:
- What arrangements promote the safety of the child and of each person who cares for them.
- Any views the child has expressed.
- The child’s developmental, psychological, emotional and cultural needs.
- Each person’s capacity to meet those needs.
- The benefit to the child of a relationship with their parents and other significant people, where it is safe.
- Anything else relevant to that particular child.
For an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child there is an extra consideration: the child’s right to enjoy their culture, and what a proposed order would do to that right.
Notice what is not on the list. Not who is the better parent. Not who left. Income and housing only matter as far as they affect a person’s capacity to meet the child’s needs.
The considerations are in section 60CC of the Family Law Act 1975.
Do the kids get to choose?
The objection I hear most:
People always say to me, my daughter, she wants to spend more time with me. She wants to live with me at my house. Isn’t that enough? The short answer is no, it’s not. Children don’t get to make the final decision. Parents can agree based on what they feel is right for their child, or if it goes to court, the court will consider their views, especially as they get older and more emotionally mature – but it’s not the one deciding factor and doesn’t override existing parenting orders.
There is no magic birthday. A 15 year old with a considered reason carries real weight. A six year old saying mum lets them stay up late and eat lollies so they don’t want to see dad carries much, much less. Our page on whether a child can refuse to see a parent goes further into it.
Who else can apply?
The Act does not limit parenting applications to parents. A parent can apply, the child can apply (yes), a grandparent can apply, and so can any other person concerned with the child’s care, welfare or development.
That last category is deliberately wide. You do not need a biological link. You need a genuine, established place in that child’s life. Grandparents are named in the Act specifically, which is why those applications are more common than people assume, and our grandparents’ rights page covers how they run.
When time has to be supervised
Where safety is a real question, the answer is often not no, but supervised until there is no safety risk. The yes might be after rehab is done, when sobriety is maintained, or when serious mental health issues are better managed. Or it may remain supervised if the risk can’t be removed.
A court can order that time be supervised, which means a worker is present while the child spends time with that person. It can also order that changeover happen through a service rather than face to face. Both usually run through a children’s contact service, which charges fees, with reduced fees for families on lower incomes.
Supervision is usually a stage, not a destination: supervised time, then supervised or facilitated changeover, then ordinary unsupervised time as the court’s concerns are addressed. Our supervised contact explainer sets out what a session looks like, and you can find services near you through Family Relationships Online.
What happens while you wait: interim orders
Here is the part almost nobody tells you, and the tip we give our own clients.
Say you have applied to court. The final hearing could be one or two years away. So what happens in the meantime? You can ask for interim orders, temporary orders that hold the arrangement steady until a final decision is made. You do not have to sit in limbo hoping the other parent plays fair. The court’s guide to applying for parenting orders sets out the process.
The other lever is making an agreement you already have enforceable.
We acted for a client we will call Anna. She had a parenting plan with her ex, and it worked for a while. Then his circumstances changed, pickup times started slipping and holiday schedules were ignored. There was nothing in the plan she could enforce, because a parenting plan is a written handshake. It records what you both agreed. It gives a court nothing to act on.
We turned that agreement into consent orders, so the same arrangement became an order of the court rather than a private agreement.
The lesson is short. An arrangement that works today only protects the child if it is written in a form a court can enforce tomorrow.
When the orders are ignored
An order stays in force until a court changes it or a new parenting plan changes it. The exception is an order that says on its face it can only be changed by another court order, which a court can do where there are safety or pressure concerns. A text agreeing to swap a weekend does not change the order. Neither does a verbal arrangement you both followed for six months.
If time is being withheld, the usual path is:
- Attempt family dispute resolution. You generally need a certificate from a practitioner before you can file.
- File an Application for Contravention, which goes to the National Contravention List.
- Show the order was breached. It is then for the other parent to establish a reasonable excuse.
Be clear-eyed about what these are. Contravention proceedings are quasi-criminal, and the court treats them that way. Where a contravention is proven without reasonable excuse, the outcomes run from make-up time and varying or suspending the order, through a post-separation parenting program, a bond, costs or compensation, up to a fine or imprisonment at the serious end. The court’s compliance and enforcement guidance explains each, and its parenting orders handbook sets out the obligations both of you carry.
If the arrangement genuinely no longer fits the child, that is a different application. A final parenting order is only reconsidered where there has been a significant change of circumstances and reconsideration is in the child’s best interests. Where you both agree on the change, file consent orders instead and make the new arrangement binding.
Reconsideration of a final parenting order is governed by section 65DAAA of the Family Law Act 1975.
Where that leaves you
You cannot claim a visitation right, because there is no such thing here. You can apply for time with a child, and the door is wider than most people expect: parents, grandparents, step-parents and other long-term carers all fit through it. Safety decides first, then the six considerations, then the practical detail of what the child’s week actually looks like.
If you are a dad and want the version written for your situation, read fathers rights after separation, but the principles remain the same.
And if what you really want to know is whether you are even allowed to ask, that is a ten minute conversation, not a court case. Call our team on 1300 614 732 for a free discovery call and we will tell you plainly whether you can apply and what a realistic path looks like. If you would rather read first, our child custody lawyers page sets out how we run parenting matters.
The word you searched for does not exist in Australian law. But the application does, and it is open to you.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are visitation rights in Australia?
Visitation rights is an American term with no meaning in Australian law. Here, a court makes parenting orders covering who a child lives with, the time a child spends with another person, communication, and parental responsibility. You apply for time with a child, you do not hold a right to it.
Do mothers and fathers have the same right to see their child?
Neither parent holds a right to see a child. Both stand on the same footing when applying for time, and the court decides on the child’s safety and needs. There is no presumption of equal shared parental responsibility, and no presumption of equal time.
Can grandparents apply for visitation rights in Australia?
Yes. Grandparents are named in the Family Law Act as people who can apply for a parenting order, alongside parents, the child, and anyone else concerned with the child’s care, welfare or development. A grandparent applies for time with the child in the same way a parent does.
What is supervised visitation and when does a court order it?
Supervised time means a worker is present while the child spends time with a person, usually at a children’s contact service. A court orders it where safety is a live question but contact is still in the child’s interests. It is normally a stage on the way back to unsupervised time.
How long does it take to get a parenting order, and what happens in the meantime?
A final hearing can be one to two years away. You do not have to wait it out. You can ask the court for interim orders, temporary orders that hold the arrangement steady until a final decision is made, so the child has a settled schedule while the case runs.
What happens if the other parent ignores the parenting order?
The order stays in force until a court or a new parenting plan changes it, so a verbal agreement changes nothing. Some orders go further and say they can only be changed by another court order, which a court can do where there are safety or pressure concerns. You usually need a family dispute resolution certificate, then you file an Application for Contravention. Proven without reasonable excuse, outcomes range from make-up time to a fine or imprisonment.
