Section 8 of the Lukautim Pikinini Act 2015 states the obligation that underlies every maintenance application in the Family Court.
Section 8(1) — the duty and the six entitlements
It shall be the duty of a parent, or any person having custody of a child, to maintain that child — and in particular that duty gives a child the right to:
(a) adequate nutrition; (b) immunisation; (c) clothing; (d) shelter; (e) education and guidance; (f) medical attention.
It shall be the duty of any person having custody of a child to protect the child from discrimination, violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation.
Section 8 does not describe maintenance as money. It describes it as six things the child is entitled to receive. Money is simply the usual means of providing them.
That framing matters when a court fixes a maintenance figure. The question is not what proportion of income is customary but what it costs to give this child adequate nutrition, clothing, shelter, schooling and medical care.
Note that immunisation is named expressly — a public health obligation cast as a private duty — and that education and guidance covers more than school fees.
“A parent, or any person having custody”
| Person | Basis |
|---|---|
| Either parent, married or not | s 8(1); Constitution Basic Social Obligation (h) |
| A person having custody — “custody” means parental responsibility (s 2) | s 8(1) |
| A relative exercising parental responsibility under custom, deed, will, direction or order | s 9(2) |
| A guardian appointed by the Court | s 104 |
| A person against whom an affiliation finding is made | ss 105–106 |
| An adoptive parent, as if the child were born to them in lawful wedlock | Adoption of Children Act |
Section 8 says a parent. It does not say a married parent, and nothing in the Act makes the duty depend on the parents’ relationship to each other.
That is the crucial difference from the Matrimonial Causes Act (Chapter 282), whose section 73 operates only within a matrimonial cause, and which section 4 excludes from customary marriages.
Where paternity is denied, affiliation proceedings under Division 6 of Part XII establish it — “affiliation” is defined in section 2 as the relationship of a child to his biological father or mother.
How the duty is enforced
1. A maintenance order. Section 108 allows the Family Court to order maintenance of a child; section 110 governs how long it lasts.
2. Child protection. A failure to maintain may make the child a child in need of protection — paragraph (a) of the section 2 definition covers a child whose parents are dead or incapacitated and for whom adequate provision has not been made, and paragraph (b) covers abandonment.
3. Prosecution. Section 47 makes abandoning a child an offence, and Part XI creates further general offences.
Section 5(4) restates and extends the duty. A parent, guardian or person with parental responsibility must:
- safeguard and promote the child’s health, development and welfare;
- provide education and guidance appropriate to the child’s stage of development;
- ensure adequate nutrition, clothing, shelter, immunisation and medical attention;
- protect the child from discrimination, violence, abuse, neglect, exploitation and harmful social or customary practices;
- protect the child from employment or activity harmful to health, education or development — see child labour;
- ensure that in a parent’s temporary absence the child is cared for by a person known and trusted by the parents.
Section 5(4)(f) makes the choice of temporary carer a legal duty, not a convenience. Leaving a child with someone the parents do not know and trust is a breach.
Where a child is left in early childhood care, Part IX requires the centre to be licensed and to meet minimum standards.
Finally, note section 8(2)’s reach: the duty to protect falls on any person having custody. A relative caring for a child under custom holds it as fully as a parent — and a failure to protect may itself bring the child within the definition of a child in need of protection.
Sources
- Lukautim Pikinini Act 2015 — ss 2, 5, 7–9, 47, 104–110
- Constitution — Basic Social Obligation (h)
- Matrimonial Causes Act (Chapter 282) — ss 4, 73
- Adoption of Children Act (Chapter 275)
Before relying on anything here, read the current text of the Marriage Act (Chapter 280) and check for later amendments. If a decision matters to you, get advice — start with the Office of the Public Solicitor, or find a firm in the law firms directory.