Parenting Questionnaire

Rule 8.09 of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Family Law) Rules 2021 requires each party to a parenting proceeding who is not required by the Rules to file an affidavit to file a completed Parenting Questionnaire with their Initiating Application (Family Law) or Response to Initiating Application (Family Law). It gives the court a structured picture of each household, the children's current arrangements and each party's proposals. Completing it is part of each party's duty of full and frank disclosure under rules 6.01 and 6.05, which the questionnaire's introduction refers to.

When you need it

• You are filing an Initiating Application (Family Law) seeking parenting orders and the Rules do not require you to file an affidavit with it.
• You are responding to an application for parenting orders, or seeking parenting orders in your response, without an affidavit.
• If you must file an affidavit, for example because interim orders are sought or responded to (rr 5.04, 2.20), the questionnaire is not required (r 8.09).

1. 1

   Part A: your circumstances now

   Your occupation and relationship to the children, employment and hours, travel time, housing, who else lives with you or stays overnight, medical conditions, any drug or alcohol problems, and any child welfare involvement, breached orders or Family Law Act offences.

2. 2

   Part B: safety issues

   List any current or past family violence orders, any concern about being hurt or intimidated at court, whether you can be in the same room as the other party, and any other safety concerns. If answering a question could put you at risk, write 'Nil answer due to risk concerns'.

3. 3

   Part C: current parenting arrangements

   Name the children and their ages, any other parent who is not a party, where the children live, who else lives there, time with each party, changeovers, transport, schooling, health, activities, and child support. Answer separately for each child where the answers differ, and keep answers short.

4. 4

   Part D: future parenting arrangements

   Set out where you propose the children live during school terms, weekends and holidays, the home and school arrangements, supervision and child care, time and communication with the other parent and family, changeovers, medical care and activities.

5. 5

   Part E: statement of truth

   Sign and date each page and sign the statement of truth on the last page. Remove the introduction page before filing.

• File it at the same time as your Initiating Application or Response to Initiating Application (r 8.09), preferably by eFiling on the Commonwealth Courts Portal. You will need to scan the signed questionnaire and upload it with the other documents. If you cannot eFile, file at a registry.
• Serve it on each other party together with the application or response and the other documents.
• The other party completes the same questionnaire, unless they are required to file an affidavit.

• Complete it yourself, in your own words, and focus on the children's future needs rather than past grievances, as the court's tips suggest.
• Raise safety concerns at the earliest opportunity; the questionnaire is not a substitute for the Notice of child abuse, family violence or risk, which must also be filed in parenting cases (r 2.04).
• Use the per-child format shown in the form's examples to keep answers short and readable.