Consent Orders for Parenting in Victoria: How to Apply and What They Cost

Why Consent Orders Exist

A parenting plan is a written agreement between parents — signed, dated, and useful for setting expectations — but it is not a court order. If one parent stops following it, there is no enforcement mechanism. The other parent cannot file a contravention application. The only option is to go back to negotiation or apply for a court order from scratch.

Consent orders solve that problem. They are parenting arrangements that both parents have agreed to, submitted to the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (FCFCOA) for approval. Once a registrar approves them, they carry the same legal force as an order made by a judge after a full trial. Breaching a consent order triggers the court's enforcement powers, including make-up time, costs orders, bonds, compensation for expenses, fines, and in extreme cases, imprisonment.

The key advantage: consent orders give you the enforceability of a court order without the cost, stress, or delay of a contested hearing.

What You Need to File

The consent order application requires a specific set of documents, all filed through the Commonwealth Courts Portal:

Application for Consent Orders. This form captures each parent's details, the children involved, and the background to the application. It includes a basic financial disclosure section.

Proposed Orders Template. This is the actual content of your agreement — who the child lives with, the parenting schedule, how holidays are divided, who makes major decisions, and any other specific arrangements. You must submit this in two formats: a signed PDF and an identical unsigned Word document (.docx) with no tracked changes, macros, or embedded images. The Word version is what the registrar uses if they need to amend the wording before approval.

Form 4 — Notice of Child Abuse, Family Violence or Risk. Each party must file this form whenever parenting orders are sought, even in a consent application. If there is no history of violence or abuse, the form is still required — you simply indicate that no risk factors apply.

Superannuation documents (only if your consent orders include property and super splitting — not relevant for parenting-only applications).

What It Costs

The filing fee for a consent order application is A$215 (as of 1 July 2026). Eligible concession card holders may qualify for a fee exemption, and financial hardship concessions may be available.

Compare that to the cost of a contested hearing: private family lawyers in Melbourne typically charge $300 to $800 per hour, and a litigated custody matter can cost $50,000 to $200,000 per party. Consent orders at $215 are the most cost-effective path to legally enforceable arrangements.

How Long Approval Takes

After you submit your application, a court registrar reviews the proposed orders to confirm they are in the child's best interests. This review is done on the papers — neither parent attends court.

Straightforward applications are typically reviewed and sealed in approximately two weeks after filing. More complex orders, or orders where the registrar has questions about whether the arrangement genuinely serves the child, may take longer. The registrar can request amendments before approving.

If the registrar is not satisfied that the orders are in the child's best interests, they can refuse to make the orders. This is uncommon for well-drafted applications but does happen when proposed arrangements raise safety concerns or appear significantly imbalanced.

Consent Orders vs Parenting Plans

The choice between the two depends on your situation:

Choose a parenting plan when both parents are cooperative, the relationship is low-conflict, and you want maximum flexibility to adjust arrangements informally as circumstances change. Parenting plans can be updated by simply drafting and signing a new one — no court involvement needed.

Choose consent orders when you need enforceability, when one parent has a history of not following through on verbal or informal agreements, or when you want the certainty that comes with a court order. Changing consent orders generally requires a new court application.

Under Section 64D of the Family Law Act, a parenting order is subject to a later written parenting plan agreed by the parents, unless the order expressly says that the order or a specified provision may only be varied by a subsequent court order. A parenting plan is not itself a court order.

Getting the Application Right

The most common reason consent order applications stall is poorly drafted proposed orders. Vague language like "the child will spend reasonable time with each parent" gives the registrar nothing to assess. Specific, detailed schedules — which days, which holidays, changeover times and locations, decision-making allocation — get approved faster.

The Victoria Child Custody & Parenting Plan Guide includes a consent order filing checklist and a proposed orders template with clear, specific clauses designed to pass registrar review on the first submission.

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