The following threshold tests apply in most Commonwealth family law and child support matters:
- forum test
- substantial issue in dispute test
- Commonwealth merits test (see also assessment of merit in Parenting disputes where the person is in custody)
- means test
- contravention test.
Not all guidelines require each of these threshold tests to be met. For example, child litigants are not required to meet the means test or the contravention test and independent children’s lawyers do not need to meet any of the threshold tests. The applicable threshold tests are listed in each guideline.
Updated