The Austlii article most relevant to your case is the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) -
FAMILY LAW ACT 1975. Case law can be very helpful reading for self-represented litigants who wish to understand how the Court considers and applies the various components of the FLA, but as Tim W said, family law matters turn on points of fact, rather than technical points of law (which is what precedents serve to resolve), so you shouldn't read them for direction in your own matter. Just focus on the Family Law Act, specifically Part VII, which is children's matters.
Some important notes:
Section 60B outlines the objects of Part VII, namely in terms of whose rights it seeks to uphold and what those rights are. This is very important to understand - under s 60B, neither you nor your ex actually have any rights in relation to your son. Only your son has rights, which is to know, spend time and communicate with both parents on a regular basis and regardless of the nature of relationship between said parents, insofar as the child's best interests can be met.
Section 60CA holds that the child's best interests are paramount, and on from that, s 60CC outlines what the Court takes into consideration when determining what's best for the child. You should learn to get to know s 60CC very well, and learn how to speak about the child's best interests. 'I want to spend time with my son' is not reflective of the child's best interests; 'It's in my son's best interests to spend more time with me in order to ensure he enjoys the benefit of a meaningful relationship with his father' is better.
Australian family law leans heavily in favour of shared parenting - shared parental responsibility is a presumption under the FLA, which means you and the mother share equally in decision-making for long-term matters affecting the child (schooling, religious following, medical treatment, etc.) as a default. Shared parental responsibility can only be removed by order of the Court, which is not an easy feat for a contending party to achieve.
Under s 65DAA, if shared parental responsibility is left without change by the Court, then it must first consider if equal time between the parents is best for the child, and failing that, the Court must consider whether parenting orders for substantial and significant time is the next best thing. Substantial and significant time is a combination of weekdays, weekends, holiday time and special occasions (Easter, Christmas, etc.).
Given the child's young age, your chances of getting 50/50 right now are next to none, even if you did live in the same town. Psychology tends to support attachment theory, which implies that for the first three or so years of a child's life, they have a primary attachment figure and separation from that primary attachment figure can cause distress or emotional harm. Primary attachment figure is not synonymous with 'most important parent', mind. It's simply a term used in psychology to indicate the person a child has become dependent on to fulfill their various needs.
As the child grows older, however, they make room for more attachment figures and therefore feel secure enough to be away from the primary attachment figure for longer periods of time. This isn't law, of course, it's just psychology, but going into Court demanding 50/50 for an infant would suggest a lack of insight about the child's best interests and a propensity to undermine the child's emotional and physical need to be close to the person they have become most dependent on. It's a mistake you don't want to make, and sometimes the psychology can help bring clarity to situations like this one.
So, what should you expect in terms of time the child spends with you?
If you move to the same town, you should seek perhaps two or three day time periods each week, for up to eight hours each. If you decide to remain a student (which, personally, I think you should - even though there is obviously benefit to being able to provide financial support to a child through full-time work, the Court tends to look slightly better on parents who can provide their children with more of their time), then perhaps you could look at what days the child is, or will eventually be attending at day care and seek orders that the child spend that time with you, instead.
It might also be prudent to seek orders that increase the child's time with you on an incremental basis - start overnights when the child turns one or two, then increase the number of overnights each year, for example, until the child starts school and you reach a 50/50 arrangement.
One thing you need to remember though is that whatever you seek, you need to show it's in the child's best interests on the evidence. As an example, if your lifestyle can't support 50/50, then it's best not to seek it.
You should also consider enrolling in a parenting course. At this stage, your capacity as a dad hasn't been tested, but if you show the Court that you are doing what you can to improve your skills, the Court will look more highly on your argument.
