To all the parents out there whether it is for the first time ever, or just the first time this year, or the last time, good luck in getting your kids back into school today.
When you become a parent it can be difficult making that shift from non-parent to parent. There is so much to learn and so to do, and that’s all before your child is even born. Then the real work begins. You will work harder and be more stressed and more tired, than anytime before in your life. You will not be paid in money for any of it, but there are always other rewards and compensations. You will, however, develop routines, habits and behaviours and learn from the experience so that things get easier over time, and the stress won’t go away but you will simply be able to manage it better. If you are lucky, you will get to parent as part of a team, and as a team on a mission, that is to raise a child. That mission will continue and you will need to parent as a team for the rest of your life. Have no illusions about this, parents and future parents reading this.
The old cliche “two heads are better than one” only became cliche because there is truth in it. The best interests of children are better served by having a relationship with both parents free from exposure to neglect abuse and family violence. This is common sense, and not just common sense. It is the law of the Australia.
Under Section 60CC of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) how a court determines what is in a child’s best interests requires consideration of primary considerations, amongst other considerations, and those primary considerations are as follows:
(a) the benefit to the child of having a meaningful relationship with both of the child’s parents; and
(b) the need to protect the child from physical or psychological harm from being subjected to, or exposed to, abuse, neglect or family violence
In applying these considerations, the court is to give greater weight to the consideration set out in (b).
This is a sensible child-focused approach to determining what is in a child’s best interests and is part of the reason the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) remains one the greatest pieces of legislation ever devised.
If your relationship with your child’s other parent stops, your mission and your team as parents’ does dissolve with it. It simply means that the team needs to work things out in a different manner to accomplish the mission. And like any important mission, there will be rewards for success and serious consequences for failure.
So don’t fail the mission. Be successful. Re-organise the way the team works. The mission is counting on you.
If you need help in reorganising the way that the team works so that you accomplish the mission, contact DB Lawyers today.