To apply for a contravention order where the other party gets penalties

If a person does not make a reasonable attempt to follow the orders, or deliberately disobeys(contravenes) an order about children, there can be serious consequences. They risk further court intervention unless there is a reasonable excuse for the behaviour.

If you want to enforce a parenting or recovery order but do not want the other party punished,apply using an ‘Application in a case’ form with an affidavit. You can get extra time with the child to make up for any lost time which happened as a result of a breach. You can also apply if the other party refuses to obey handover arrangements before the handover was supposed to happen.

To apply for a contravention order where the other party gets penalties, you apply using an‘Application for contravention’. Attach any previous contravention orders. The penalties for breaching a parenting order are based on the seriousness of the breach:

• the breaching of an order was not proven (s.70 NAA Subdivision C)
• the breaching was proved but there is a reasonable excuse (Subdivision D)
• a less serious breach happened without a reasonable excuse (Subdivision E)
• a more serious breach happened without a reasonable excuse (Subdivision F).

The court must consider if taking part in a post-separation parenting program would help. The court may also:

• Make an order giving you more time with the child, if you have lost time with them as a result of the breach.
• Make an order giving you money to make up for money you lost as a result of the breach, for example, unused airfares.
• Place the person who disobeyed the order on a bond for up to two years. The bond has conditions such as going to family counselling or family dispute resolution or good behaviour.
• Issue a fine up to $6000 or imprisonment. This is for more serious breaches only. These penalties cannot be used for child support breaches.

If the court finds that the other party did not disobey the order and you have made a contravention application against them before, you may have to pay the other party’s costs. This area of the law is complicated.

Contravention cases are run using Division 12A unless the court orders otherwise.