Practice guidelines for separated parents

1. Legal documentation

The parent or guardian who completes our intake process (the “Default Primary Parent”) warrants that they hold the legal authority to book, consent to, and manage appointments on the child’s behalf under the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) or any relevant parenting order.

Parents generally hold equal shared parental responsibility for decisions about a child’s health unless a court order provides otherwise. Our intake process asks whether any parenting orders, consent orders, or other court orders exist, and we will request a copy before proceeding.

Where a court order restricts a parent or guardian’s access to information about the child, please provide a copy of the order with the relevant section highlighted; we will note this on your child’s file. We may also request supporting documentation from relevant statutory bodies (for example, child protection or family services) to help clarify decision-making authority.

The Default Primary Parent indemnifies Brighton Health Clinic for Kids against any claim, loss, or liability arising from a misrepresentation of their parental responsibility or authority to consent on the child’s behalf, or from a failure to inform the other parent as required under this policy.

2. Involvement in appointments

Paediatricians prefer to see both parents sharing the care and decision-making for their child. However, our patient care team will seek the appointment-making parent’s advice on whether a shared appointment or separate appointments for each parent is more appropriate. Where both parents are unable to be in the room together, we can offer one parent the option to join via Telehealth.

If separate appointments are needed, please let our patient care team know. Standard consultation fees apply, and a separate fee is charged for each appointment where separate appointments are required.

Medicare requires the child to be present during the consult (including via Telehealth) for a parent to claim a Medicare rebate for attending. If you need to speak with your paediatrician without your child in the room, please arrange for a relative or trusted friend to supervise your child in the reception area during the appointment.

3. Appointment Information Sharing

When one parent schedules an appointment, it is their responsibility to inform the other parent and invite them to attend, if appropriate. We do not automatically share appointment details with the other parent or offer them the right to attend.

If the appointment is made by one parent, it is the responsibility of this parent to inform the other parent, invite them to attend, and provide feedback to them.

4. Communication Policy

Our practice management software designates a “default primary parent” for each child, to whom all communications about that child are automatically directed, including reminder emails and text messages.

Occasionally, this can cause issues — for example, when a non-default parent books an appointment but reminders are still sent to the default parent. We operate on the assumption that separated parents maintain a framework of joint parental responsibility, which legally requires them to coordinate and share information with each other.

The non-default parent may contact us directly to request copies of correspondence or reports, or to attend or arrange their own appointment. Standard consultation fees apply to any additional appointment.

We do our best to support individual family circumstances, but we cannot accommodate complex personalised communication arrangements. If this policy causes any issues for your family, please discuss your concerns with our patient care team.

5. Sharing Clinical Information

Clinic correspondence and letters are sent to the parent who attends the appointment; it is that parent’s responsibility to forward this information to the other parent. Our clinicians are not able to provide separate feedback to each parent without a separate appointment being made for this purpose. We welcome both parents to attend appointments, and will provide copies of correspondence to each parent on request.

6. Joint Decision-Making

We expect separated parents to work together respectfully and cooperatively when making decisions about their child’s medical treatment, wherever possible. Both parents should be involved in deciding whether to commence medication or begin intervention therapy.

Cooperation between parents is necessary for therapeutic interventions to be effective. Where parents disagree about a therapeutic decision, our clinicians’ role is to provide an opinion rather than to require or pursue a particular outcome.

For specific interventions such as prescribing non-essential medication, our clinicians will not proceed with the recommended treatment unless both parents agree.

Our clinicians are not able to mediate disagreements between parents about a child’s treatment. It remains the parents’ responsibility to resolve these disagreements, including, if necessary, through family dispute resolution or the Family Court.

7. Emergency Care

In an emergency, our clinicians may make the clinical decisions necessary in the child’s best interests, even where one parent or guardian cannot be reached at the time.

8. Mandatory Reporting

Our clinicians are mandatory reporters under applicable state and territory child protection legislation. Where a clinician has reasonable grounds to suspect a child is at risk of harm, they are required by law to report this, regardless of any parental consent arrangement or other provision in this policy.

9. Payment Responsibility

Payment is due on the day of the child’s appointment. Where a legal agreement requires the other parent to pay all or part of the treatment costs, it remains the attending parent’s responsibility to settle the account and seek reimbursement from the other parent.

10. Conflict Resolution

Where there is significant conflict, we reserve the right to review court orders, obtain signed consent from both parents, or limit our services until the dispute is resolved. If necessary, we may discharge a family from our services where conflict is disruptive to the clinic or impedes the child’s care.

11. Reports, Medico-Legal Requests & Custody Disputes

Our clinical reports and correspondence are prepared for the purpose of your child’s medical care and are not intended for medico-legal or custody-related purposes. We are unable to accept referrals, or prepare reports, where the primary purpose is to generate evidence for family law or custody proceedings. Families requiring an assessment for these purposes should seek a referral to an appropriately qualified independent medico-legal practitioner.

12. Mature Minors

As children grow older, their own views, preferences, and capacity to make decisions about their health care will increasingly be taken into account, consistent with the “mature minor” (Gillick competence) principle and relevant professional and legal guidelines. This may affect who is given access to a young person’s health information as they approach adolescence.