Hi Leanne,
If you have a good relationship with the mother, you can ask her to add you to the family law matter as a joinder of parties. The mother may need the court and/or the father's consent. Otherwise, you will need the court's permission to join as a third party intervener. In this case, you will not be a party to the matter but will be allowed to give evidence/statement in support of one side over another. The third option is to ask the mother to represent your interests as well as hers.
If you have been prevented from seeing your grandparents or believe your visitation rights will not be protected in the Parenting Order between the parents, you can apply to court yourself for a Parenting Order and the court will likely join this matter to the existing Parenting Order matter between the parents. Again, you will need to ask the court's permission to do this.
As a grandparent, you do not have an automatic right to a relationship with your grandchildren. The court will apply the same test with you as with the parents, which is: what is in the best interests of the grandchildren? There is a presumption that splitting up children from their family (including grandparents) is not in the children's best interests however this can be rebutted and will be determined on an individual case-by-case basis.
Contact the QLD legal aid or your local community legal centre and the Family Court for further information on how to do this. Also, have a look at this
information sheet from Legal Aid NSW: "are you a grandparent?"
