For school principals, teachers and staff, knowing who can make parenting decisions about a student is essential when parents separate.

The short answer

Unless a court order provides otherwise, both parents generally have parental responsibility and are generally entitled to communicate with the school and receive information about their child. You should ask to see the relevant court order or other document establishing the arrangement. A parenting plan records an agreement between parents but is not enforceable in the same way as a court order. Schools should therefore carefully check what document a parent is relying on. A school should not assume that one parent has sole parental responsibility based on that parent’s assertion alone.

Shared and sole responsibility.

Parental responsibility covers major long-term decisions about a child, including education, religion, culture, and health. For schools, this may include decisions about enrolment or changing schools. Day-to-day matters, such as their school attendance, and routine school arrangements, will generally be dealt with by the parent caring for the child at the time.Where parental responsibility is shared, parents may need to make major long-term decisions jointly, depending on the terms of the relevant orders. Where a court has given one parent sole parental responsibility for a particular decision, that parent can generally make that decision alone.

Ask for the documents.

If one parent asserts sole parenting responsibility, it is important that your school asks each parent for a copy of any parenting plan or court order. The school should also check whether the document is a binding court order or a parenting plan, and look for provisions about school attendance, reports or contact with staff.

Share information safely.

Where both parents have responsibility, the school can make available on its web- based platform reports, newsletters and notices for each parent and enable access by both parents unless there is an order to the contrary. Schools should not disclose one parent’s address or contact details to the other unless authorised to do so.Step–parents, grandparents and other carers are not automatically entitled to receive information about a student unless the relevant orders or circumstances provide otherwise.

If there is a dispute about which parent may collect a child from school, then it is important to see the parenting order or any intervention order for any specific provision regarding such collection. Should there be an ongoing dispute, it is prudent to seek legal advice.

Common mistake

A common mistake is acting on what a parent says about “custody” without seeing the order. The Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) no longer uses the terms “custody” and “access”, and many orders are silent on parental responsibility or provide for the decision making to be shared. If you are unsure what an order means, seek advice rather than interpreting it yourself.

What Nicholes Family Lawyers can do to help

Parents can help by giving the school a copy of any current orders and promptly telling the school when those orders change. If your school needs guidance on parenting orders or a dispute between parents, contact our family law team.

Disclaimer

This article is general information only and is not legal advice. For advice about your situation, please contact us for a consultation.