You do not have to wait for the final custody decision. Interim access is one of the things family courts deal with most often, and they generally deal with it quickly.
The starting principle
Contact with both parents is treated as being in the child's interest, and courts describe it as the child's right rather than the parent's. Total denial of access is exceptional and requires real justification, such as documented risk to the child. Ordinary hostility between the parents is not that justification.
What to apply for
File an interlocutory application for interim custody or visitation in whichever proceeding is pending, whether that is the guardianship petition, the divorce petition, or the domestic violence case. Ask for something specific and workable:
- Fixed days and hours, with a defined handover point
- Video or telephone contact on stated days, which courts grant almost as a matter of course
- A share of school holidays and named festivals
- Where trust has broken down completely, supervised visitation at a court-annexed child access centre
"Reasonable access" is the least enforceable phrase in family law. An order that says "every Saturday, 10am to 6pm, handover at the Family Court complex" can be enforced. An order that says the parties shall cooperate cannot. Precision at the interim stage saves years of contempt applications.
If an order is already being flouted
Go back to the same court with a compliance or execution application, with dates. Courts take repeated, documented breaches seriously, and persistent obstruction is a factor weighed against that parent at the final custody hearing.
One caution
Do not respond by withholding maintenance, or by taking the child without permission. Both damage your case badly, and removing a child in defiance of an order can trigger far more serious proceedings.