When grandparents lose contact with their grandchildren after a separation or a family rift, the first question is almost always the same. Do I have a right to see them? The honest answer is no, not an automatic one. But that is not the end of it, and most of what is written online either stops at the wrong place or describes a version of the law that changed in 2024.
A grandparent cannot demand time as a right. What a grandparent can do is apply for a parenting order, and before that, try to resolve things through Family Dispute Resolution. This post sets out where grandparents actually stand under the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth), what a court weighs up, and why mediation, not a court application, is almost always the first step.
Do grandparents have an automatic right to see grandchildren?
No. Australian family law gives no one an automatic right to spend time with a child, and grandparents are no exception. The focus sits on the child, not the adult. The right the law protects belongs to the child: a relationship with people who are significant to them, where that is safe.
That is the framing to hold onto. Section 60CA of the Family Law Act makes the child's best interests the paramount consideration in every parenting decision, and section 60CC(2)(e) asks the court to weigh the benefit to the child of a relationship with their parents and other significant people. A grandparent who has been a steady part of a child's life fits squarely there. But the Act gives grandparents no head start. As the Full Court explained in Valentine and Lacerra [2013] FamCAFC 53, there is no presumption or preferred position between a parent and a non-parent. The child's best interests decide the outcome, the same way they would between two parents.
Can grandparents apply for a parenting order?
Yes, and grandparents stand on firmer ground than most other relatives. Section 65C of the Family Law Act lists who may apply for a parenting order, and grandparents are named in it directly. A grandparent does not need anyone's permission to file.
The Act gives an unconditional right to apply to only three groups: a child's parents, the child, and a grandparent. Everyone else, an aunt, an uncle, a cousin, a step-parent, a close family friend, has to apply under a catch-all in the same section, as a person concerned with the child's care, welfare or development. They must first satisfy the court that they genuinely fit that description before the application can go anywhere. Grandparents skip that threshold. So if you are not a grandparent but you have helped raise a child, you are not shut out. You apply through that wider limb, and the practical first step is the same one described below.
What does the court actually weigh up?
The child's best interests, and nothing else, decide a grandparent's application. Section 60CC of the Family Law Act sets out the considerations. It was rewritten on 6 May 2024 into six general factors with no ranking, plus extra considerations where the child is Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.
Safety comes first. Section 60CC(2)(a) asks what arrangements would promote the safety of the child and the people caring for them, and where there is a history of family violence the court must take it into account. The strength of the existing relationship matters too. A grandparent who has done school pick-ups or provided a second home starts from a very different place than one with little prior contact. We walk through all six factors in our guide to how the best interests test works; for a grandparent the same factors apply, just from a non-parent's position.
Do you have to try mediation first?
Almost always, yes. A grandparent's application is a parenting application, so before going to court a grandparent generally has to make a genuine effort at Family Dispute Resolution and obtain a Section 60I certificate. The same requirement that applies to parents applies to grandparents.
Section 60I of the Family Law Act requires that genuine effort before most parenting applications, and in practice that means obtaining a Section 60I certificate from an accredited practitioner. Mediation here is not a box to tick. The practitioner assigned to your matter does not take sides or put forward a solution. They help each person shape and reality-check their own proposals, usually with the parties in separate online rooms, and test how those arrangements would work for the child. If agreement is reached, it is recorded as a Parenting Plan, which is not a court order but can later become Consent Orders if enforceability is needed.
Grandparent disputes are often the kind mediation handles best. The people involved usually want an ongoing relationship rather than a clean break, and an arrangement everyone has helped build tends to hold better than one imposed after a contested hearing. Most grandparents do not need a courtroom. They need a structured conversation with the parents.
When can you skip the section 60I certificate?
Only where a limited exemption applies. Section 60I sets out the exemptions, and a court can accept an application without a certificate where the circumstances fit. The most common grounds involve safety and urgency, and they exist so mediation is never forced where it would be unsafe or too slow.
The exemptions include genuine urgency, child abuse or family violence or a risk of either, a situation where a delay in applying would create a risk of child abuse, and cases where a person cannot take part effectively, for example through incapacity or remoteness. A practitioner also screens every matter for safety and suitability before mediation goes ahead, and can assess that Family Dispute Resolution is not appropriate where that is the safer course. Where an exemption applies, a grandparent can file without first holding a session.
What if a parent has died or cannot cope?
Some grandparents are not asking for a regular visit. They are stepping in to raise a child because a parent has died, is seriously unwell, or cannot safely care for them. In that situation a grandparent can seek much more than time.
A parenting order can provide for a child to live with a grandparent and can give the grandparent parental responsibility, meaning a say in major long-term decisions about schooling, health and upbringing. Courts make these orders where the child's best interests require it. In Kay and Jasper [2007] FamCA 1646, a court ordered that children live with their grandmother, who shared parental responsibility, because their mother was too unwell to care for them. Where no parent is available at all, after a death, a critical injury or incarceration, the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia runs a Critical Incident List to put urgent care arrangements in place quickly.
What can a grandparent's parenting order cover?
The orders a grandparent can ask for sit on a spectrum. Section 64B of the Family Law Act describes what a parenting order can deal with: who a child lives with, who they spend time with, who they communicate with, and who holds parental responsibility.
In practice most grandparent applications are at the lighter end of that spectrum. A grandparent might ask only for regular phone or video contact, or for the child to spend a few hours together each month, rather than for the child to live with them. The order is shaped to the child's situation, so it can be as modest as a standing video call or as substantial as full-time care, depending on what the child actually needs.
What changed for grandparents after the 2024 reforms?
The headline changes from 2024 did not single out grandparents, but two of them shift the ground under any grandparent application. The old presumption of equal shared parental responsibility is gone, and the best interests test in the Act was rewritten into the six factors described above.
The repealed section 61DA presumption used to push the court towards equal shared parental responsibility between the parents as a starting point. With it gone, the court allocates parental responsibility by what suits the child, which can make room for a grandparent more readily than before. Parental responsibility now sits under section 61C without the former presumption. The rewritten section 60CC also dropped the wording that gave the parent relationship extra weight, so a grandparent relationship is weighed on the same footing as any other significant relationship. A lot of older online guidance still describes the pre-2024 rules. If an article refers to primary and additional considerations, or to a presumption of equal shared parental responsibility, it is out of date.
Common questions
Can grandparents get custody of a grandchild?
There is no longer a status called custody, but a grandparent can apply for an order that the child live with them and that they share parental responsibility. Courts make these orders where a parent cannot safely care for the child and it is in the child's best interests.
Do grandparents have to do mediation first?
Usually yes. A grandparent generally has to make a genuine effort at Family Dispute Resolution and obtain a Section 60I certificate before applying to a court, unless an exemption such as urgency or family violence applies.
Can a parent stop all contact?
A parent controls day-to-day contact, but cannot stop a grandparent applying for a parenting order. Whether contact happens is then decided on the child's best interests, including the existing relationship and any safety concerns, not on the parent's preference alone.
Are grandparents' rights different since the 2024 changes?
The way a grandparent applies has not changed, but the legal background has. The presumption of equal shared parental responsibility was repealed and the best interests test was rewritten into six factors with safety first, so older guidance is often out of date.
Can other relatives apply, not just grandparents?
Yes. An aunt, uncle, cousin, step-parent or anyone concerned with a child's care, welfare or development can apply, but unlike a grandparent they must first satisfy the court they genuinely fit that description.
This article is general information only and was correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of writing. It is not legal, tax, or financial advice and does not take account of your personal situation. The law changes, some measures mentioned may be proposals that are not yet in force, and fees and figures can change over time, so check anything that matters and get advice for your own circumstances from a family lawyer, an accredited Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner, or a qualified tax or financial professional before acting. If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 000. For confidential support with family violence or concerns about a child's safety, contact 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732.