Understanding Parental Responsibility
As a parents you are responsible, in the eyes of the law, for the safety, wellbeing and upbringing of your child. Parental responsibility requires you to ensure that your child receives the best care possible within the family unit.Although not an exhaustive list, parental responsibility means:
- Providing your child with a name
- Offering a secure and safe home
- Providing your child with good discipline
- Playing an active role in their education
- Deciding how your child receives medical attention
- Nominating a guardian for your child, if necessary
Who has Parental Responsibility?
By law, the mother of any child automatically has parental responsibility for them from birth. If the parents are married at the time of the birth or they have jointly adopted the child, then parental responsibility becomes a joint venture and both parents should have a say in how that child is brought up.If parents then divorce, they do not lose parental responsibility and are still responsible for the child one the marriage has been dissolved.
What if I am unmarried?
If a mother is unmarried, she has sole parental responsibility for that child, and all decisions relating to her child’s upbringing are hers.However, unmarried fathers can gain legal responsibility for a child by:
- Jointly registering the birth of the child with the mother
- Making a parental responsibility agreement with the mother
- Having a parental responsibility order, made by a court
Applying for Parental Responsibility
If you do have to apply to the courts for parental responsibility of your child, you must show a level of commitment to your child as well as a high level of attachment. The court ultimately has the final decision and must take all things into account before deciding on parental responsibility. The court must also consider why the father wishes to be given parental responsibility and may look at the mother’s ability to care for the child or children.A court welfare officer may be appointed to assess the father’s level of commitment to his children in terms of attendance and also how he interacts with them.
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Comments...
Our 12 year old son has been placed in a foster home trained to provide care for juvenile sex offenders. They have 3 children placed there. My son was taking a shower in bathroom without a lock and one of the other juvenile sex offender came into bathroom and molested him. We have demanded his removal from the home because we feel appropriate supervision was not is place. What is our rights as legal guardians? We have received a lot of run around from the agency about no other placement available and it could have happened anywhere and we we need to reconcile with foster caregivers, etc.
frantic - 17 January 2012 @ 5:22 PM
I have a son, aged nine months... i would like to change his surname to mine, no longer with the father and he has no contact at all. I named him as the father with a form as he was in another country being held on remand. He later was granted bail and fled the country... I do not want him to have any responsibility and he has shown that he has none for my son. It needs to be changed, for peace of mind also. I need to hold sole responsibility.
woody - 24 September 2011 @ 9:49 PM
I want sole parental responsibility for my Daughter (aged 2), i was never married to her father, however his name is on her birth certificate.He has had no interaction with Felicity for almost a year and doesnt contribute to her life be it financially or emotionally in anyway, he is completely void.I would very much like to change my daughter's last name to that of mine however am advised that i cannot unless i have 'Sole Parental Responsibilty' and so is this something i can apply to the courts for myself?
rach - 15 August 2011 @ 1:47 PM
my stepdaughter as run away from home and she is living with her mates mum and refuses to come home. she is 16 years old and recently my wife received letters from the csa wanting maintenance. as my wife and her daughterare not talking to each other and we don't even know this women she is living with and would not be happy putting money into a strangers account.does anybody have any advice weather this woman can even get child maintenance.
corkie - 15 July 2011 @ 11:28 PM
My daughter was born december 1999 and she has her fathers surname. I just wondered where her father, my partner (we are not married), stood with regards to having parental responsibility for her.
emily white - 12 July 2011 @ 5:33 PM
My child is in foster care, what are my legal rights as a parent?
SAZZY - 17 June 2011 @ 12:37 PM
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