---
title: "Initiating Application (Family Law): completion guide for parenting and financial orders"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/precedents/family-law/initiating-application"
type: "precedent"
site: "AI Law Framework"
id: "a16-initiating-application"
area_id: "A16"
kind: "court-document"
ai_level: "yellow"
version: 1
law_stated_as_at: "2026-10-17"
---

# Initiating Application (Family Law): completion guide for parenting and financial orders

> Link to the Court's current Initiating Application with a part-by-part completion guide, the documents that must be filed with it, and the safety and AI rules (PD-AI) that apply.

Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/precedents/family-law/initiating-application  
Law stated as at: 2026-10-17

Site index for agents: https://ailawframework.com/llms.txt

## Key facts

- Kind: Court document. A document filed or served in a court or tribunal.
- Practice area: [Family Law](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/family-law.md)
- Jurisdictions: Australia, Commonwealth
- AI level: Yellow. AI can help in set ways. A lawyer checks specific points before use.
- Law stated as at: 2026-10-17
- Status: Maintained. Checked on 2026-10-17 against the official form at fcfcoa.gov.au and the 7 authorities it cites, for Australia and Commonwealth.

## When to use it

Use when starting parenting and/or financial proceedings in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia. Do not use for matters that belong in the Family Court of Western Australia, or where the parties have agreed terms (use the Application for Consent Orders).

## How AI may be used

AI may help organise the lawyer's notes and check a draft for consistency, but the form must be the Court's current version, the orders sought are settled by the lawyer, and the Statement of Truth belongs to the client. PD-AI applies to everyone who prepares the documents.

**AI may:**

- Turn the lawyer's instructions note into a checklist of the documents that must be filed with the application
- Compare the draft orders with the settled instructions and list gaps, inconsistent dates or names
- Check that the separation date, children's details and existing orders are consistent across the application, affidavit and Financial Statement (in a firm-approved closed tool)

**AI must not:**

- Must not enter a protected residential address, refuge location, a child's school or a safety plan into any AI tool
- Must not draft the supporting affidavit or rephrase the client's account (PD-AI para 4.9)
- Must not enter subpoenaed, disclosed or suppressed material into a GenAI tool that does not meet PD-AI para 5.5
- Must not file anything taken from an AI output without line-by-line checking against source documents

**The lawyer checks:**

- The form is the current version downloaded from the Court page on the day of filing
- Jurisdiction, time limits and the s 60I certificate or exemption basis
- Each order sought is precise, enforceable and supported by the evidence filed
- Safe contact details and address for service, and that nothing in the bundle discloses a protected address

## Authorities

- [Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) s 44(3), (5) (time limits for financial proceedings)](https://www.legislation.gov.au/C2004A00275/latest/text)
- [Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) s 60I (family dispute resolution certificate or exemption)](https://www.legislation.gov.au/C2004A00275/latest/text)
- [Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) s 60CC (best interests of the child)](https://www.legislation.gov.au/C2004A00275/latest/text)
- [Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) s 79 (alteration of property interests, as amended from 10 June 2025)](https://www.legislation.gov.au/C2004A00275/latest/text)
- [Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Family Law) Rules 2021 (Cth) r 2.04 (Notice of Child Abuse, Family Violence or Risk), r 6.06 (financial disclosure) and Sch 1 (pre-action procedures)](https://www.legislation.gov.au/F2021L01197/latest/text)
- [Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia, Practice Direction: Use of Artificial Intelligence (PD-AI), issued 29 May 2026, paras 3.3(e), 4.9, 4.11, 5.5](https://www.fcfcoa.gov.au/pd/pd-ai)
- [Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) s 114Q (communicating an account of proceedings that identifies a party or child)](https://www.legislation.gov.au/C2004A00275/latest/text)

## Official form

[Official form](https://www.fcfcoa.gov.au/fl/forms/initiating-app)

## Where this comes from

The official form is published by fcfcoa.gov.au; this page is a completion guide. Last checked on 2026-10-17.

## Full text and drafting notes

The full text and the drafting notes are not part of this public page. Signed-in firm accounts can read them at https://ailawframework.com/precedents/family-law/initiating-application and through the signed-in MCP connector https://ailawframework.com/mcp/firm.

*Practice guidance for planning and review. Confirm current primary sources and the requirements of the actual matter. This is general information, not legal advice.*