Interim Orders vs Final Orders

Interim Orders vs Final Orders: the key differences

Interim orders are temporary orders made before the final hearing of a matter — based on the evidence available at the time and often focused on maintaining the status quo. Final orders are made after a full hearing with all evidence tested, intended to provide long-term certainty.

The practical distinctions matter for every step of your matter:

When are interim orders appropriate?

Courts make interim orders when families need workable arrangements — for children, asset protection, or personal safety — while the full matter is prepared for hearing. The circumstances that typically warrant interim intervention include:

• Safety concerns — where there are concerns about family violence, child abuse, or risk of harm, interim orders can establish protective arrangements immediately.
• Establishing parenting arrangements — when parents cannot agree on where children will live or how they will spend time with each parent, interim orders create a workable arrangement while the matter proceeds.
• Property preservation — where assets may be sold, transferred, or dissipated before final orders, the court can make interim injunctions to preserve the property pool.
• International relocation risk — where a parent may remove a child from Australia without consent, the court can prevent international travel and place the child on the Airport Watch List.

Section 60CC: best interests in interim proceedings

Section 60CC of the Family Law Act 1975 applies equally to interim and final parenting orders — the best interests of the child remain the paramount consideration in all parenting matters.

The court must consider primary factors including the need to protect children from harm (including family violence and abuse) and the benefit of having a meaningful relationship with both parents, subject to safety. Additional factors — the child's views, the nature of relationships, each parent's capacity, practical difficulties, and cultural and developmental needs — all apply.

Types of interim orders

The court can make various types of interim orders depending on the circumstances of the case.

Interim parenting orders

Orders about parental responsibility, living arrangements, and time spent with each parent — including who a child lives with on an interim basis, time arrangements with the other parent, communication arrangements (phone, video calls), changeover logistics, and school holiday and special occasion arrangements.

Interim injunctions (property preservation)

Orders to protect assets pending final property settlement, including restraining sale or transfer of real property, preventing dissipation of funds from bank accounts, preserving business assets or shares, orders about use and occupation of the family home, and restraining encumbrance of assets such as new mortgages.

Protective and safety orders

Orders to protect children and parties from harm: supervised time with a parent, prohibition on overnight stays, requirements for drug or alcohol testing, restrictions on contact with certain persons, and orders about family violence undertakings.

Travel and location orders

Orders to prevent removal of children or to locate and recover them: Airport Watch List orders (preventing overseas travel), surrender of passports, location orders (requiring disclosure of whereabouts), recovery orders (for return of children), and prohibition on relocation within Australia.

Procedural requirements for urgent applications

The court will only treat a matter as urgent where there is genuine time-sensitivity — it will not fast-track a matter simply because a party wants a quick resolution.

What constitutes urgency

• Child safety — imminent risk of harm, serious family violence allegations, or child abuse concerns requiring immediate action.
• Removal risk — planned international travel without consent, risk of abduction or concealment, or a child already removed who needs recovery.
• Asset dissipation — an imminent sale of a major asset, transfer of funds overseas, or a business being wound up.
• Medical decisions — urgent medical treatment for a child, disagreement about necessary medical care, or time-sensitive healthcare decisions.

Filing an urgent application

1. Prepare the application — file an Application in a Case (if proceedings already exist) or an Initiating Application marked as urgent. Include a supporting affidavit with specific evidence of why the matter is urgent.
2. Demonstrate genuine urgency — your affidavit must explain why the matter cannot wait for a regular hearing date. Include specific dates, times, and circumstances that create the urgency.
3. Contact the registry — for truly urgent matters, contact the court registry to request an urgent listing. The duty registrar will assess whether the matter warrants priority listing.
4. Service requirements — generally, the other party must be served before the hearing. In exceptional cases the court may hear an application ex parte (without the other party present), but this is rare and requires compelling justification.

The Rice v Asplund principle

Once interim orders are made, varying them requires meeting an important threshold. Rice v Asplund (1979) FLC 90-725 established that once parenting orders are made the court should not re-open the matter unless there has been a significant change in circumstances.

"Once orders have been made… the law should not encourage people to return to court again and again in the hope that the wheel of fortune will turn their way." — Full Court of the Family Court

This principle applies to both interim and final parenting orders. To vary existing orders, an applicant must demonstrate:

• Significant change in circumstances — a material change since the original orders were made, not just minor variations or a change of heart.
• Threshold test — the court must be satisfied it is in the child's best interests to reopen the matter, having regard to the desirability of finality in litigation.
• Child's welfare — even with changed circumstances, the court will only vary orders if doing so would benefit the child's welfare.

Recovery orders and location orders

In urgent circumstances where a child has been removed or withheld, specific orders are available to locate and recover the child.

Location orders

Under Section 67J of the Family Law Act 1975, the court can make orders to help locate a child, including orders requiring persons to provide information about a child's whereabouts, orders to produce documents about location, and orders allowing entry and search of premises.

Recovery orders

Under Section 67Q of the Family Law Act 1975, recovery orders authorise the Australian Federal Police or state police to locate, recover, and return a child who has been removed or withheld. The order may also authorise entry and search of premises and return of the child to a specified person.

Common questions