How to Get a Court-Ordered Paternity Test in Australia

You have just been told the child you have raised might not be yours. Or you need to prove who your child’s father is, and the other person will not agree to a test. Either way you want certainty, and you want to know how to force the question if it comes to that.

Here is the short answer. A court can order a paternity test when a child’s parentage is genuinely in dispute. The power sits in section 69W of the Family Law Act 1975, and this page walks you through how to get one: what you need, the steps to apply, what it costs, whether you can be forced, and whether the result will hold up.

The steps come first. Read the checklist, then the detail underneath it.

What you need before you start

• Who can apply: a party to the case, usually the alleged father, the mother, or an independent children’s lawyer.
• Documents: an Initiating Application, a supporting affidavit setting out why parentage is in dispute, photo ID, and passport-style photos.
• The lab: it must be a NATA-accredited laboratory. Nothing else is accepted.
• What will not work: a home “peace of mind” kit off the shelf will not be accepted by the court.

How to get a court-ordered test: the steps

1. Try to agree on a private test first. Ask the other person to do a NATA-accredited test by consent. A court often expects parties to have at least tried this before it gets involved.
2. File an Initiating Application. Lodge it in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia, with a supporting affidavit that explains why parentage is genuinely in dispute. If you are not sure how to frame the application, our family court lawyers can do it with you.
3. The court applies the section 69W test. It has to be satisfied that parentage is genuinely in issue in the case. A vague doubt is not enough.
4. The court makes a parentage testing order. If it is satisfied, it can order the test. It can do this because you asked, or on its own initiative.
5. Attend the accredited laboratory. You bring photo ID and passport-style photos, give a cheek swab, and the sample is handled under a documented chain of custody so no one can later argue it was tampered with.
6. The lab reports the result. That report is then used as evidence in the proceedings.

What a court-ordered paternity test actually is

A court-ordered paternity test gives you a legally reliable answer to one question: who is this child’s parent? It is an order under section 69W that requires one or more people to take part in a parentage testing procedure, in practice a simple DNA sample.

You are not asking the court’s permission to buy a test. You are asking the court to order it, so the result carries weight in your case rather than sitting in a drawer.

Who can apply, and who can be ordered

Two different questions get mixed up here, so let’s separate them.

Who can apply is any party to the proceedings. Usually that is the alleged father, the mother, or an independent children’s lawyer appointed to represent the child.

Who can be ordered to test is broader. The order can require a sample from the child, the mother, and anyone else whose testing might help answer the question, which can extend to other relatives where their result would assist.

Before it orders anything, the court has to be satisfied of one thing under section 69W: that parentage is genuinely in issue. As I said above, a passing doubt will not clear that bar.

When a test may not be needed: the presumptions of parentage

The law already assumes parentage in some situations, so a test is not automatic. A presumption can arise from being married to the child’s mother (section 69P), from living with her in the window from 44 to 20 weeks before the birth (section 69Q), or from being named on the birth certificate (section 69R).

A parentage test is how you rebut one of these presumptions when it is genuinely disputed. It is not a first step you reach for by default.

Parentage that arises from surrogacy or artificial conception runs under separate rules and is beyond this page.

What if the other person refuses?

This is where a lot of people get caught out, because the common belief is wrong. No adult can be physically forced to give a sample, and refusing is not contempt of court. Under section 69Y, an adult who refuses a parentage testing order is not liable to any penalty.

Here is the part that matters. The court may draw such inferences from the refusal as appear just, a principle settled by the High Court in G v H (1994) 181 CLR 387. A refusal is not automatic proof of anything. It is weighed on the facts, alongside the rest of the evidence. But someone who refuses a test for no good reason should not assume the court will simply move on. The same applies to a mother who declines: the refusal is one fact in the case, not a trump card either way.

Will the result hold up in court?

Two things decide whether a result sticks.

First, admissibility. Only testing done by a NATA-accredited laboratory under the Family Law Regulations 2024 is accepted by the court. A home kit is not, no matter what accuracy figure is printed on the box.

Second, the finding. Once parentage is established, the court can make a declaration of parentage under section 69VA. That declaration is conclusive evidence of parentage for the purposes of the laws of the Commonwealth, which is what makes it stick beyond your one case.

What it costs

The legally admissible test is not free, but it is rarely the biggest cost in a matter like this. As a guide, an accredited test usually runs to several hundred dollars per person, sometimes closer to a thousand, with additional children costing less each. The cheaper home kits advertised online are not court-admissible, so paying less for one is a false economy if you actually need the result in court. The court can also decide who pays for the testing.

You can find the current list of accredited laboratories through the Attorney-General’s Department.

Protecting the child through the process

A parentage test involves a child, and the child’s interests come first, not an adult’s need to be proved right. A child under 18 cannot be tested without the consent of a parent or guardian (section 69Z).

Beyond consent, think about the child in front of you. Testing can raise hard questions, especially for an older child, and getting them the right emotional support through it matters as much as the paperwork. If the result changes day-to-day care, that feeds into parenting arrangements, which the court decides on the child’s best interests.

What it means for child support

A parentage finding can change a child support assessment. If it turns out support has been paid on a mistaken basis, some of that may be recoverable. But this runs through Services Australia and the courts, it has its own time limits, and the full mechanism is beyond this page.

If child support is part of why you need the test, talk to a lawyer about your own numbers before you assume anything. Our child support lawyers can walk you through where you stand.

The next step

Getting a court-ordered paternity test is not complicated once you know the order it runs on and the steps to get there. The hard part is usually deciding to act. If parentage is genuinely in dispute in your matter, me and my team can tell you quickly whether a test is the right move and how to ask the court for one. Book a free discovery call and we will explain your options with no legal waffle, just straight talk. Call 1300 614 732 or send us a message.