Parental Responsibility — Our Blog

Key findings from research into ‘The meaning of home for children and parents after parental separation’

It’s known that parental separation is likely to result in big changes in home arrangements for children and young people, yet until recently, how children and young people think about ‘home’ after parental separation has remained unexplored in research and here are the key findings.

Can my child decide which parent to live with?

There is a common misconception in separating families that once children reach a certain age, they are able to choose which parent to live with. While children’s views are of course important to parents, if parents are not able to reach agreement about their children’s living arrangements, the Court will ultimately make the decision and the children’s views will be only one factor which is taken into account in that decision.

What happens if parents cannot reach an agreement about vaccinating their children with the COVID19 Pfizer vaccination or any other vaccinations or immunisations?

The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) has approved the Pfizer vaccine as being safe for use in children aged 5 to 11 years. From 10 January 2022 children aged 5 to 11 years can now receive a vaccination against COVID19.

Whether or not a child should receive a vaccination is a parental responsibility decision. Generally speaking, both parents have and share parental responsibility for their children.