I’m a dad in western Sydney who separated from my partner last year after 11 years together. We have a 7-year-old son and a 4-year-old daughter. I was the one doing most of the school runs and weekend sport while she worked part-time, but the interim parenting orders still gave her primary care and me every second weekend plus one night a week.

The property settlement side feels just as one-sided. Even though the house was bought with my savings before we met, the court is leaning towards 60/40 in her favour and the child support assessment is hitting my take-home pay hard. It’s like the system assumes mums are automatically the better parent no matter what the actual history is.

Fellow Aussie dads who’ve been through this recently, how did it play out for you in the Family Court? Did you manage to get shared care or a fairer property deal? What actually made the difference?