How to apply for consent orders in Australia: parenting, property and the Court’s form

To apply for consent orders in Australia, you and your former partner agree on parenting, property or both, write the exact orders you want, and file them with an Application for Consent Orders. Outside Western Australia the Court says to file online through the Commonwealth Courts Portal and pay a filing fee of $215 as at November 2026. A Registrar then reads the papers, usually without anyone going to court.

Claim Done drafts an agreed family consent orders pack from your answers for a flat A$149: the proposed orders, an editable Word copy for the Court, and a personal guide to the official application and eFiling. You complete the Court’s form, sign, and file it yourselves.

What consent orders are, and who can apply

The Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia says that if both of you have reached agreement about parenting, financial or property matters, you can ask the Court to make orders by consent so the agreement is legally binding. Consent orders can also vary or discharge existing family law orders.

Victoria Legal Aid explains that consent orders are legally enforceable, so you can ask the court to act if someone does not follow them. A parenting plan is not.

Agreement alone is not enough. Parenting orders must be in the best interests of the child, and financial or property orders must be just and equitable.

Time limits for property orders

In the Federal Circuit and Family Court, an application for financial or property orders can be filed any time after separation, but it should be filed within 12 months of a divorce becoming final, or within two years after a de facto relationship ends. Outside that window you need the Court’s leave to file.

What you can and cannot ask for

Parenting orders can cover:

• who each child lives with, including shared arrangements
• the time a child spends with the parent they are not living with, or with others important to them, such as a grandparent, face to face or by phone, email or letters
• parental responsibility, including who makes decisions about major long-term issues such as education and religion.

Property orders deal with how your property, superannuation, financial resources and debts are shared. You can ask for parenting and property orders in the same application.

You cannot use an Application for Consent Orders to get an order about child support. Child support is handled separately through Services Australia.

Splitting superannuation has its own rules. At least 28 days before filing, you must give the fund trustee written notice of the orders you will seek, which gives the trustee procedural fairness. You then file proof that the trustee does not object, along with proof of the super’s value.

What you file

You file at least two documents: the official Application for Consent Orders form, and a signed copy of the orders you want the Court to make. The application holds the information the Court needs to decide whether to make the orders. The orders are the exact wording you want made.

1. The Application for Consent Orders. The Court publishes a do-it-yourself kit with the form and a checklist.
2. The proposed orders, signed. Each order goes in its own numbered paragraph. Each page is signed by each of you and dated.
3. An identical unsigned Word copy. The Court asks for a .docx version of the orders that is not locked and has no tracked changes, images or macros.
4. The parenting notice, if children are involved. The Notice of child abuse, family violence or risk is mandatory with any consent application that seeks parenting orders. It is not filed for property-only orders. Answer it truthfully. Allegations of child abuse recorded in it are reported to child welfare authorities.

How to file and pay

The Court says to eFile on the Commonwealth Courts Portal, and each of you should register on it. The person who lodges the application and pays the fee should be listed as the applicant. If you cannot eFile, you can file at a court registry with the original and a copy for the other party.

The filing fee for an Application for consent orders is $215, as at November 2026, according to the Court’s family law fees page. It is paid when you file. If you are eligible for a fee exemption, you provide evidence such as a health care card when you file. If you are not eligible but paying would cause financial hardship, you can apply for an exemption on that ground.

Keep the final files, the portal receipt and every registry message in one folder.

Western Australia is different

In Western Australia, de facto property matters come under a State law, the Family Court Act 1997. If you are in WA, follow the Family Court of Western Australia instructions and forms.

What happens after you file

A Registrar considers the application. You do not attend court unless the Registrar asks. The Registrar will grant it, ask for more information or amended documents, or dismiss it. If it is granted, sealed orders can be downloaded from the portal. Signing and uploading the documents does not make them court orders. The Court has to make them.

If the Registrar asks for changes, answer promptly and keep the PDF and Word copies identical.

How the proposed orders are set out

Proposed orders are short, numbered court language, not a letter. A typical layout:

• Heading: the Court, the two parties by full name, and the title “Proposed consent orders”.
• Parenting orders (if any): the children, parental responsibility, who they live with, time with the other parent by day, time and handover place, holidays and special days, calls, schooling, health and travel.
• Property orders (if any): who keeps each asset and pays each debt, any sale or refinance and its deadline, any cash payment and due date, vehicles, accounts and personal items.
• Signature and date on every page for both of you.

Write each order so it can be followed without guessing: “every second weekend from Friday 4 pm to Sunday 5 pm”, not “reasonable time”.

Mistakes to avoid

• Signing while under pressure or in fear. If there is family violence, get support and legal advice first. If you are in immediate danger, call 000.
• Agreeing to property orders before you have both shared every asset, debt, super balance and income.
• Putting child support terms in the orders, or a super split without notice to the trustee.
• Filing property orders late without asking for the Court’s leave.
• A Word copy that differs from the signed PDF, or that is locked or has tracked changes.
• Vague orders that cannot be followed.

Where to get advice

The Court cannot give legal advice, and it says it is advisable to get legal advice before agreeing or applying. The Family Relationship Advice Line on 1800 050 321 may give limited free legal advice. Legal Aid Commissions and Community Legal Centres offer free and low-cost advice. The Attorney-General’s Department publishes Parenting Orders: What You Need to Know, a handbook to help parents develop a workable parenting agreement they can ask a court to make enforceable through parenting orders.

What the Claim Done pack does, and what it does not

The pack is for couples who fully agree. It first asks whether you both agree freely, without pressure, threats, fear or family violence; if not, it stops and nothing is charged. It also stops before payment for incomplete financial disclosure, super splits, companies or trusts, bankruptcy, overseas property, third parties, disputed facts, out-of-time property applications and WA de facto property matters.

You receive the proposed orders as a PDF to sign and an identical editable Word copy, plus a guide that maps your answers to the official application and eFiling. You fill in the Court’s form, sign, file and pay the fee yourselves. Claim Done is not a law firm, does not represent either of you and does not file anything at court. The Court decides whether to make the orders.

If you have both agreed and want it in a form the Court can make binding, start the consent orders pack for A$149.