A Court Assessment Order (CAO) is the order which is applied for before the Temporary Assessment Order (TAO) expires. A CAO is usually applied for if DOCS believe that it will take longer than 3 days (of the TAO) to complete the investigation.

DOCS must complete affidvait material and lodge this with the application for the CAO with the Childrens Court before the TAO expires and before the next Childrens Court date. This material and application must be stamped with the Childrens Court stamp and must be signed by the registrar from the court house. There will be 4 copies of these, one for DOCS, one for the court and one for both mother and father (or just mother or just father depending on the circumstances). Even if the mother or father of the children is not involved in the children's lives, attempts must be made by law to contact all biological parents and inform them of the current situation.

DOCS must provide you with a copy of the court material for a CAO. This can be given to you the day before court, depending on the day that Childrens Court is in session and the day that the TAO expired, in which case you or your legal representative should ask for an adjournment to allow time to read through the material. The CAO should be personally served to the parents, however other arrangments can be made for the parents to collect this paper work, but this must be discussed with the parents first.

A CAO duration is for 28 days, or 4 weeks, from midnight on the day that it was decided. A CAO can be extended but only once and only if the magistrate believes it is in the best interest of the child. The extension for the CAO must be lodged before the CAO expires.

DOCS should inform parents during the TAO that they will be applying for a CAO. DOCS should inform the parents of the reason for this and their right of appeal for this decision.