I live in nsw australia My partner wants to know if he can…

Hello and thank you for your question.

If you can't prove there are problems with the mother then it is unlikely a court would suddenly give the father majority custody overnight as this would be too great a shock to the child.

However, the solution to the problem is that your partner needs to take enforcement action. There is no point having mediations or getting court orders if the parties don't enforce the orders when the other parent breaches them. The courts generally strongly support both parents having or developing strong relationships with their children as this is seen as being in the best interests of the children (which is the paramount concern of the courts) and so if the mother is in breach of a previous mediation plan the courts will generally take steps to force the non compliant parent from withholding access or custody, and if the court forms the view that a parent is flagrantly disregarding the courts direction in that regard, it is possible the court could dramatically alter the custody arrangements against that parent on the basis that parent appears not to be looking to the best interests of the child.

If there are allegations of inappropriate behaviour by a parent towards a child, or by a person with which the parent associates, a court can take into account any evidence of this, and will often have the child independently assessed by a counselor or psychologist who can investigate such allegations. If proven then this could naturally alter the sort of custodial orders the court would entertain, including changing who has majority custody of a child.

Whilst there are undoubtedly options which your partner could pursue in order to establish or maintain regular and very substantial custody or access, you cannot just wait for the court system and legal aid to deliver this to your partner, your partner has to be willing to engage lawyers to take the necessary action and to be pro-active about acting when the mother breaches any existing agreement or court orders regarding custody or access.

By all means go with legal aid lawyers if they are being helpful, but they have limited resources and cannot always provide the sort of help required to effectively pursue such cases.

I trust the above assists your understanding.

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Thank you and good luck.

Patrick