How to Make a Parenting Plan in the Northern Territory
How to Make a Parenting Plan in the Northern Territory
A parenting plan is a written agreement between you and your co-parent about how you'll raise your children after separation. In the NT, it's the fastest, cheapest, and least adversarial way to establish post-separation arrangements — but it has limitations you need to understand before relying on one.
What a Parenting Plan Is (and Isn't)
A parenting plan under Australian family law is a signed, dated, written agreement that covers arrangements for a child. It's legally recognised under Section 63C of the Family Law Act 1975.
What it isn't: court-enforceable. If your co-parent stops following the plan, you can't take it to court and ask a judge to enforce it directly. You'd need to apply for formal parenting orders.
That said, courts give significant weight to parenting plans. If a matter ends up before a judge, a well-drafted plan demonstrates both parents' agreed intentions and serves as evidence of what was working.
What to Include
A comprehensive parenting plan should cover:
Living arrangements — where the child primarily lives, and the schedule for spending time with each parent. Be specific: "alternate weekends Friday 5pm to Sunday 5pm" is enforceable; "regular contact" is not.
Major long-term decisions — how you'll handle decisions about schooling, healthcare, religious upbringing, and the child's name. Will one parent decide, or will you consult?
Communication — how the child contacts the other parent (FaceTime schedule, phone calls), and how parents communicate with each other (email, co-parenting app, text).
Holidays and special occasions — school holiday splits, Christmas/New Year rotation, birthdays, cultural celebrations. In the NT, consider wet season and dry season logistics if travel between Darwin and remote communities is involved.
Travel — interstate and overseas travel consent procedures. Under Sections 65Y-65ZAA of the Family Law Act, taking a child out of Australia without consent or a court order carries up to three years' imprisonment.
Changeover logistics — pickup/drop-off locations, times, and who's responsible for transport. For parents spread across Darwin and Alice Springs (a 15-hour drive), specify whether changeovers involve flights and who bears the cost.
Dispute resolution — how you'll handle disagreements about the plan. Nominating a mediator or family dispute resolution practitioner in advance prevents future impasses.
How to Formalise It: Consent Orders
If you want your agreement to be court-enforceable, convert it into consent orders. The process:
- Draft your agreement as a Minute of Consent Orders
- Complete the Application for Consent Orders (Form 11)
- Attach a Notice of Child Abuse, Family Violence or Risk and the children's birth certificates
- File via the Commonwealth Courts Portal
- Pay the $215 filing fee (from 1 July 2026)
A registrar reviews the proposed orders. If they're consistent with the child's best interests under the current Section 60CC framework, the court makes them legally binding — enforceable in the same way as orders from a contested hearing.
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Common Mistakes NT Parents Make
Being too vague. "The child will spend time with Dad" doesn't work. Specify days, times, pickup locations, and what happens when arrangements conflict with work rosters (especially relevant for FIFO and military families in the Territory).
Ignoring the wet season. Road access between Darwin, Katherine, and remote communities can be cut off during the wet. Your plan should include contingency arrangements — extended blocks with one parent if changeovers become impossible, with make-up time built in.
Skipping the dispute resolution clause. Without a pre-agreed process for handling disagreements, every conflict becomes a potential court application. Name a mediator or FDR service in the plan itself.
Forgetting cultural connection provisions. For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families, the post-2024 reforms require courts to consider a child's right to cultural connection. Including specific cultural connection provisions in your parenting plan — ceremony attendance, country visits, kinship obligations — strengthens the arrangement.
The Northern Territory Child Custody & Parenting Plan Guide includes ready-to-use parenting plan templates with pre-drafted clauses covering all of these areas, along with a consent orders walkthrough specific to the FCFCOA Darwin registry.
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Download the Northern Territory — Parenting Plan Starter Checklist — a printable guide with checklists, scripts, and action plans you can start using today.