There is no presumption that the mother of the child will receive custody of a child or become the child’s primary carer after separation. The Court will consider the circumstances of each case when determining what parenting orders to make. The Court must make its decision based on what it believes to be in the best interests of each particular child.

Statistically speaking, the Courts are more likely to order that very young children spend more time with their mothers because mothers are more likely to have been the children’s primary carers prior to separation and the Courts would be wary to disrupt that attachment whilst it is still developing. A father who was more involved with a child’s upbringing prior to separation is more likely to receive more time with his child than a father who had limited involvement, assuming all other factors are the same.