Judgments

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – PARENTING – Where the mother appeals from the primary judge’s decision to summarily dismiss her parenting application – Where judgment in New Zealand family law proceedings (“New Zealand proceedings”) was reserved at the time of the primary judge’s decision and the appeal was filed, but has since been delivered – Where the mother attempted to initiate proceedings by relying upon her status as an Australia citizen who now resides in Western Australia – Where the father is the biological parent of one child but not the other – Where the children have lived predominantly with the father in New Zealand since 2018 – Where the mother’s generic complaint about the Family Court of Western Australia and the law is not a competent ground of appeal – Where the mother could not verify the allegation that the primary judge admitted bias – Where the mother provides no rational explanation for why she asserts the orders in New Zealand are unlawful – Where the primary judge found the mother’s application was an abuse of process and the Court was a clearly inappropriate forum to hear the parenting dispute – Where any factual error made by the primary judge about the findings made in the New Zealand proceedings does not vitiate the decision – Where the mother’s belief the appeal raises issues of jurisdiction and Constitutionality is not proof of fact – Where the mother’s Application in an Appeal and oral application to adduce further evidence in the appeal are dismissed as being futile – Where the mother’s oral application to rescind previous interlocutory appellate orders is dismissed – Where the mother’s oral application to appeal from the recently pronounced final orders in the New Zealand proceedings is dismissed – Appeal dismissed.

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – APPLICATION IN AN APPEAL – Extension of time to file Notice of Appeal – Where the Magistrate dismissed the father’s application to vary final parenting orders – Where the father alleges the Magistrate made an error of law by taking extraneous material into account – Where the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) (“the Act”) permits material on which existing final parenting orders were based to be considered when deciding whether final parenting orders should be re-opened – Where the Magistrate informed the parties of the intention to take the single expert report into account and gave them the opportunity to be heard – Where the father contends the Magistrate misapplied the Act – Where the father contended his changes circumstances, including his new living arrangements, the child’s wishes and some improvement in the state of his mental health, were sufficient to justify fresh litigation – Where the Magistrate concluded the changes in circumstance asserted by the father, individually and in aggregation, did not justify the reconsideration of the final parenting orders – Application dismissed – Application for costs in the sum of $1,000 granted.

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – Where procedural orders made less than a week ago anticipating the appeal would be heard by the Full Court no earlier than August 2025 – Where the appeal can be heard in late May 2025 – Where the appellant opposes the earlier hearing dates when she is without legal representation – Where the desire of the mother for legal representation is not the dispositive consideration – Where the desire of the father for prompt determination of the appeal must also be accommodated – Orders made – Appeal hearing fixed for May 2025 – Procedural Orders varied.

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – Practice and procedure – Show Cause – Where the appeal was listed for the appellant to show cause why it should not be summarily dismissed – Where the appellant alleges corruption by the Independent Children’s Lawyer – Where the appellant complains of perjury by the respondent – Where the appellant alleges threats made by the respondent’s father – Where the grounds of appeal do not allege any legal, factual or discretionary error by the primary judge – Where the appeal has no reasonable prospects of success – Appeal summarily dismissed.

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – PARENTING – Where the primary judge made an order that final parenting orders be reconsidered – Where the primary judge found s 65DAAA did not require a change in circumstances for the reconsideration of final parenting orders – Where the subsequent Full Court decision in Radecki & Radecki [2024] FedCFamC1A 246 (“Radecki”) rendered the primary judge’s construction of s 65DAAA erroneous – Where the respondent contended Radecki should not be followed – Where the Full Court decision is binding – Discussion of Radecki and the codification of Rice and Asplund (1979) FLC 90-725 – Where the appeal is flawed as the order is not a judgment from which an appeal lies – Appeal dismissed.

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – Property – Where appellant argues that amount of overcapitalisation was greater than that conceded by the respondent at trial – Where appellant argues the primary judge erred in accepting the concession of the respondent that the overcapitalisation was around $500,000 – Where appellant claims that the Court should make an assessment based on the use of funds during the relationship as opposed to initial contributions – Where appellant argues primary judge failed to properly exercise discretion – Consideration of authorities on overcapitalisation – Where no detailed argument or authorities regarding overcapitalisation were put to the primary judge – Ground of appeal not established – No error of discretion as per House v The King (1936) 55 CLR 499 established – Appeal dismissed – Costs awarded.

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – APPLICATION IN AN APPEAL –SUMMARY DISMISSAL – Appeal from declaratory order – Appellants beneficiaries of testamentary trust – coversheet of Notice of Appeal naming wrong party as appellant – Where the first respondent sought summary dismissal of the appeal – Where the appellants sought leave to amend Note of Appeal – Application for summary dismissal dismissed – leave to amend granted

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – APPLICATION IN AN APPEAL – Review of registrar’s decision as to filing of documents – Where the substantive appeal has been heard and dismissed – Where the court no longer has jurisdiction to deal with procedural decisions of the registrar made prior to the appeal – Where the respondent seeks a vexatious proceedings order in relation to the applicant – Where the Response suffers the same jurisdictional flaw – Where the applicant is aware of the difficulties with running meritless applications – Where the applicant seeks to relitigate the issues determined by the primary judge and upheld on appeal – Order for the applicant to pay the respondent’s costs on an indemnity basis.

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – APPLICATION IN AN APPEAL – Provision of Transcript – Where the appellant seeks that the court provides the transcript – Whether transcript is necessary for appellant’s case – Application for the Court to provide transcript refused – Appellant relieved of obligation to provide the transcript – Application otherwise dismissed.

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – APPLICATION IN AN APPEAL – REINSTATEMENT – Where the father appealed from all final parenting and property orders – Where his appeal was deemed abandoned due to his failure to file the transcript on time – Where the father asserted the delay was modest – Where the father admitted the entirety of the transcript had still not been filed – Where the appeal appears to have no merit – Where the father could not show some miscarriage of justice ostensibly resulted from his allegedly incompetent legal representation at trial – Where there was nothing unusual about the expert witnesses altering their opinion during cross-examination when confronted with new factual evidence – Where simple dissatisfaction with add-back findings is not a competent ground of appeal – Where the Magistrate acknowledged how add-backs were the exception rather than the rule – Where the father did not seek any adjournment of the trial on account of the alleged late financial disclosure by the mother and he suffered no consequential prejudice – Application dismissed.

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – COSTS – Where the appellant’s appeal was wholly unsuccessful – Where the appeal grounds were unmeritorious and the appellant made unjustified and serious allegations to impugn the primary judge – Where the incomprehensible aspects of the appeal contributed to the respondent’s costs – Appellant to pay the respondent’s costs of the appeal on an indemnity basis.

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – APPLICATION IN AN APPEAL – Summary dismissal – Where the Amended Notice of Appeal contains four well recognised potential errors – Where the particulars of the grounds suggest there may be difficulty in succeeding on the appeal – Where it cannot be said the appeal has no prospects of success – Application for summary dismissal dismissed – Appellant’s application for an adjournment dismissed given the application was decided in her favour.

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – PROPERTY – Narrow ground of appeal regarding valuation of a business – Whether the primary judge erred in adopting the new valuation of the business – Where the appellant alleged it was incorrect to change one element of the valuation without changing others – Where it is common for experts to express opinions on assumptions put to them – Where the appropriate weight for an expert’s answer is a matter for the court – Where the appellant failed to challenge the new valuation at trial – Where there was no evidence to draw a Jones v Dunkel (1959) 101 CLR 298 inference from – Appeal dismissed – Appellant to pay the respondent’s costs.

FAMILY LAW – APPLICATION IN AN APPEAL – Review of decision – Where the applicant seeks review of the decision of the appeal registrar to reject his Notice of Appeal for filing – Where the applicant incorrectly claimed an exemption from payment of the filing fee for his Notice of Appeal – Where the time for filing an appeal then expired – Where the applicant was advised he could file an Application in an Appeal seeking an extension of time to appeal – Where the applicant instead sought judicial review – Where the Notice of Appeal was correctly rejected – Application dismissed.

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – Practice and procedure – Show cause – Where the appellant was invited to show cause why his appeal should not be summarily dismissed – Where final parenting orders were made by the parties’ consent – Where no ground of appeal argues the orders impeached the anterior agreement reached between the parties – Where no ground of appeal alleges the magistrate was bereft of jurisdiction or power to make the consent orders – Where no ground of appeal alleges the appellant’s consent of the orders was inveigled or induced by fraud, mistake or some other fundamental misunderstanding – Appeal summarily dismissed.

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – PROPERTY – Where a 10 per cent s 75(2) adjustment was made in favour of the respondent – Where the appellant contended that he was not afforded procedural fairness to make submissions on the s 75(2) adjustment – Where the parties were afforded the opportunity to make submissions about the relevant issues – Where the appellant contends that the primary judge’s reasons were inadequate – Where the matters taken into account by the primary judge were clearly articulated and sufficiently described – Where the appellant contended that the s 75(2) adjustment was “manifestly excessive” – Where the orders made were not outside of the generous ambit within which reasonable disagreement is possible – Where the appellant contended that the primary judge failed to accord him procedural fairness on the form of the orders made – Where the form of the primary judge’s order was not materially different to the orders sought by the respondent – Where the form of the primary judge’s orders were within the parameters established by the parties’ positions – Appeal dismissed – Written submissions ordered on the question of costs.

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – APPLICATIONS IN AN APPEAL – Application to adjourn the appeal hearing to allow the appellant time to file his Summary of Argument and listen to the audio of the trial to correct the transcript – Application for the appeal to be dismissed – Where the appellant has already been granted multiple indulgences – Where the utility of the transcript corrections was not identified – Where the appeal is wholly lacking in particulars and clarity – Where the appellant has not filed a Summary of Argument and failed to comply with procedural orders – Where it would be a significant injustice to the respondent to permit the appeal – Application dismissed – Appeal dismissed.

FAMILY LAW – APPLICATION IN AN APPEAL – Review of decision – Where the appeal registrar rejected the applicant’s Application in an Appeal seeking leave to file an appeal out of time – Where the primary judge discharged previous orders temporarily staying the parties’ financial proceedings pending the finalisation of parallel criminal proceedings prosecuted against the applicant – Where the primary judge set the financial proceedings down for trial in April 2025 – Where the criminal proceedings are set down for trial in September 2025 – Where the applicant failed to demonstrate a reasonably arguable case the primary judge erred in concluding the applicant would not suffer prejudice if the stay was discharged – Where the applicant alleges the primary judge took into account irrelevant considerations in concluding the applicant had acted inconsistently with the maintenance of his privilege against self-incrimination, which proposition is at least arguable – Where the respondent did not assert she would be prejudiced by the applicant being permitted to bring the appeal one day late – Orders of the appeal registrar set aside – Where the appeal registrar shall file the Notice of Appeal.

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – Practice and Procedure – Show cause – Where the appellant was invited to show cause why his appeals should not be summarily dismissed – Where the first appeal is from orders that do not determine any right or liability of either party and is incompetent – Where the second appeal has no prospect of success – Where the appellant conceded the first two appeals could be summarily dismissed – Where the grounds of appeal contained within the third appeal are misconceived – Appeals summarily dismissed – No order as to costs.

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – Where the mother appeals from a variation of interlocutory spend time with orders as between the mother and the children made after a three day trial pending delivery of reserved judgment – Where the mother contends error as to fact, weight, and as to procedural unfairness – Where some errors as to fact are made out – Where such errors are immaterial to the overall determination – Appeal dismissed – No order as to costs

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – Practice and procedure – Show cause – Where the applicant was invited to show cause why her appeal should not be summarily dismissed – Where the primary judge dismissed the applicant’s application seeking to consolidate her industrial cause with the matrimonial cause – Where the applicant could not demonstrate she would suffer substantial injustice if leave to appeal was refused – Where the statutory causes of action are distinct – Consideration of issue estoppel – Appeal summarily dismissed – No order as to costs.

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – PROPERTY – Consensual allowance of the appeal and cross-appeal – Where judgment debt was entered in the Supreme Court of Victoria in favour of the cross-appellant against the husband – Where the wife initiated financial proceedings against the husband – Where the cross-appellant was granted leave to intervene at first instance but restrained from executing its judgment against the husband pending disposition of the spouses’ financial cause – Where the primary judge omitted the judgment debt from the balance sheet – Where the claims of creditors should not be subordinated to the claims between spouses in the matrimonial cause – Where the unsecured debt was neither treated as an individual debt of the husband, nor as the joint and several liability of the spouses – Error of law – Appeal allowed – Orders of the primary judge set aside – Matter remitted for rehearing – No order as to costs.

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – APPLICATION IN AN APPEAL – REINSTATEMENT – Where the applicant’s appeal was deemed abandoned due to his failure to file transcript on time – Where the applicant filed an application seeking reinstatement of the appeal – Where the appeal evinces no obvious merit and to reinstate it would cause prejudice to the wife – Where the applicant did not make a disqualification application to the magistrate and waived his complaint of bias – Where none of the applicant’s complaints about his denial of procedural fairness can be made good – Where complaints of unsatisfactory professional performance by lawyers other than his own is not a competent ground of appeal – Re-instatement application refused – No order as to costs.

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – Application for leave to appeal – Where the applicant argues that the primary judged erred in granting a permanent stay of proceedings in the Family Court of Western Australia – Application for leave to appeal dismissed – Appeal dismissed.

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – CHILD ABDUCTION – Hague Convention – Where the father appeals against a refusal to make a return order – Whether the primary judge erred in assessing the existence of a grave risk of harm or an intolerable situation – Where the primary judge applied the correct principles – Appeal dismissed.

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – Practice and procedure – Show cause – Where the appellant was invited to show cause why her appeal should not be summarily dismissed – Where the refusal of an adjournment application is not a judgment from which any appeal validly lies – Where the interim parenting orders have been overtaken by more recent orders – Appeal summarily dismissed – Costs ordered in a fixed sum.

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – LEAVE TO APPEAL – Where leave is required to appeal from two sets of orders made by the primary judge – Where the first application seeks leave to appeal from orders permitting the respondent to provide certain documents to AUSTRAC – Where AUSTRAC is a statutory body with ostensible significant and legitimate interest in the documents – Where s 114S(1)(a) of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) is engaged – Where the first application is dismissed – Where the second application seeks leave to appeal from an indemnity costs order – Where the findings made by the primary judge by determination on the papers were not open and gave rise to an error of law – Where the second application for leave to appeal is allowed – Appeal allowed in part – Ordered the indemnity costs application be remitted for hearing before a judge other than the primary judge – Costs ordered to the appellant in the sum of $1500.

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – DE FACTO RELATIONSHIP – Appeal from declaration pursuant to s 90RD of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) as to the parties’ relationship – No factual error capable of materially affecting the outcome demonstrated – Appellant failed to establish incompetence of counsel – Appeal dismissed – Appellant to pay the respondent’s costs in a fixed sum.

APPLICATION IN AN APPEAL – Application to adduce further evidence – Where the material the appellant sought to adduce was of no utility or relevance to issues in proceedings – Application dismissed.

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – Where the husband appeals from a costs order of a modest sum – Where a ground of appeal attempting to go behind previous orders made by the primary judge is incompetent – Where the husband alleges legal and factual error by the way in which the primary judge applied various subsections of s 117(2A) of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) (“the Act”) – Where the complaint the primary judge failed to consider the conduct of both parties is rejected – Where the provisions of s 117(2A) of the Act do not foreclose a costs order being made against a party who has been partially successful – Appeal dismissed – No order as to costs.

FAMILY LAW – APPLICATION IN AN APPEAL – Review of decision – Where the applicant seeks review of the appeal registrar’s decision to reject his Application in an Appeal seeking leave to file an appeal out of time – Where the primary judge made a superannuation splitting order without the superannuation trustee first having had procedural fairness in respect of it – Orders of the appeal registrar set aside – Where the time for the applicant to appeal from the orders is extended by one day – No order as to costs.

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – Where the father appeals from final parenting orders – Where the father asserts that the primary judge failed to consider the relevant legislation, made “wrong” findings of fact, and failed to make findings of fact – Adequacy of reasons – Where the primary judge undertook a methodical evaluation of the evidence and cogent considerations of the relevant legislation – Where no ground of appeal has merit – Appeal dismissed – Costs ordered in favour of the mother and the Independent Children’s Lawyer.

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – BINDING FINANCIAL AGREEMENT – Where appellant appeals from a determination that the financial agreement entered between appellant and respondent was not binding and enforceable – Where appellant previously acted for respondent in parenting proceedings against former partner – Where primary judge found appellant did not receive independent advice because financial agreement was prepared by law firm that previously acted for respondent – Where law firm had ceased to advise respondent at the time financial agreement was signed – Where respondent had separate legal presentation for purposes of financial agreement – Where primary judge erred in finding that a former client is owed a fiduciary duty – No fiduciary duty apart from confidentiality is owed to a former client – Appeal allowed.

APPEAL – PARENTING – Where primary judge refused to allow an application to change child’s surname – Where appellant alleges primary judge erred in exercise of her discretion – It was within primary judge’s discretion to refuse name change application – Where appellant alleges primary judge made irrelevant findings not open on the evidence – Primary judge squarely addressed the evidence and recounted uncontroversial facts – Appeal dismissed. 

APPEAL – APPLICATION IN AN APPEAL – Application to adduce further evidence in parenting appeal – Unnecessary to address application to adduce further evidence where appeal is dismissed on parenting grounds.
 

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – Where the appellant appeals orders made by the Magistrates Court of Western Australia in undefended financial proceedings – Where the primary judge found that the s 75(2) factors warranted a further adjustment in favour of the respondent as to 10 percent, divided the party’s property as to 65 percent to the respondent and 35 percent to the appellant, and dismissed the respondent’s application for spousal maintenance – Where the appellant challenged the jurisdiction of the Magistrates Court of Western Australia and contends that the value of the home was grossly undervalued –Where the appellant’s submissions as to jurisdiction was arrant nonsense masquerading as a legal submission-Where no error is made out – Appeal dismissed – Consideration of s 117(2A) – The appellant is to pay the respondent’s costs assessed in the sum of $3,000 within 60 days.

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – PROPERTY – Where the primary judge found there was no property capable of division – Where the appellant contends that finding was in error – Definition of property – Discussion of add backs as notional assets – No error identified – Where the appellant contends she did not agree with the way her counsel ran her case – No evidence that conduct of counsel led to an unfair result – Appeal dismissed.

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – Appeal from divorce order – Where the appellant argues that Australia is a clearly inappropriate forum – No error of fact or law established – Appeal dismissed – Order made for the wife to pay the husband’s costs of the appeal on a party/party basis.

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – EX-TEMPORE – Leave to appeal – Practice and procedure – Where orders the subject of appeal were superseded by later consent orders – Where appellant failed to attend hearing before primary judge – Where the review application was dismissed by the primary judge – Where the appeal was listed to hear submissions regarding utility – Where appellant did not exhaust all existing remedies available at first instance under r 10.13 of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Family Law) Rules 2021 (Cth) – Leave to appeal refused for futility – Appeal dismissed with costs.

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – Where the grounds of appeal involved a degree of overlap by contending errors in the exercise of discretion and errors of fact – Where the appellant contends that the primary judge “doubled counted” the effect of the conduct of the appellant at both the assessment of contribution stage and in relation to the matters under s 75(2) – Where the respondent contended that there was no double counting, that the primary judge’s determination needed to be viewed in aggregate, and that a consideration of the primary judge’s determination revealed no error in the approach of the primary judge – Where the Full Court found that the conduct finding was material to the determination of the primary judge at each of stages two and three and was “double counted” – Where the error permeated the percentage findings at each stage – Ground 1 of the appeal succeeds.

APPEAL – RE-EXERCISE OF DISCRETION – Where this Court found error in the primary judge’s reasons – Where the parties agreed that the Full Court should re-exercise the discretion – Where orders were made for further written submissions to be filed as to the re-exercise of discretion – 28 year marriage – Where the parties had acquired a number of assets including the business, investment properties, a home and farm – On the re-exercise of discretion, the respondent is to receive 62 percent of the property available for division and the appellant is to receive 38 percent – Costs certificates issued.
 

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – LEAVE TO APPEAL – PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – Appeal against dismissal of an application for release from the implied undertaking – Where appellant is facing criminal charges in District Court of New South Wales – Where appellant sought to use a redacted version of the single expert report prepared in the course of the parenting proceedings to defend the criminal charges – Where there is a real possibility that release of the report from the implied undertaking may contribute to the administration of justice in the appellant’s criminal proceedings – All grounds of appeal established – Leave to appeal granted – Appeal allowed – Costs certificates issued.

APPEAL – APPLICATION IN AN APPEAL – Application to adduce further evidence – Where evidence relates to the attitude of the single expert report writer in relation to use of the report in the criminal proceedings – Where attitude of the expert found to be of limited relevance – Leave granted to adduce further evidence.

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – PROPERTY – Where the wife appeals from a single order adjusting the property of the parties as to the value of a payment to be made by the husband, and does not challenge the balance of the suite of orders made pursuant to s 79 of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) – Limited and haphazard evidence available to the primary judge – Sub-optimal conduct of the trial before the primary judge by the parties – Limited and haphazard evidence adduced as to a factual finding challenged on appeal as to a value on an entity controlled by the husband – Where the primary judge erred in part in making a finding as to that value – Where the error is discrete and confined – Where no other grounds of appeal have merit – Appeal allowed – Orders on re-exercise to correct the confined error without varying the percentage division of the property of the parties or changing the specie of property achieved by way of the primary judge’s orders – Where the correction finalises the litigation as quickly, inexpensively, and efficiently as possible – Costs certificates ordered.

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – LEAVE TO APPEAL – Property – Where the husband requires leave to appeal from interlocutory financial orders made by the primary judge – Where the primary judge dismissed the husband’s interlocutory injunction application with costs – Allegations of bias – Where mere disappointment with the original result is not evidence of bias – Where there was no denial of natural justice – Where contentions of jurisdictional, legal, evidentiary and discretionary error fail – Where the result was not manifestly unjust – Where several grounds are rejected as being incompetent – Application in an appeal to issue subpoena – Where the husband’s application to issue subpoena could not advance the prospects of the appeal – Application in an appeal to adduce further evidence – Where the further evidence does not aid the competency of the proposed appeal – Applications dismissed – Leave to appeal refused – Costs ordered in a fixed sum.

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – Practice and procedure – Show cause – Where the primary judge granted a conditional stay of financial orders pending the outcome of the applicant’s appeal from such orders (“the substantive appeal”) – Where the applicant was invited to show cause why the application for leave to appeal from the stay orders should not be summarily dismissed following the Full Court’s dismissal of the substantive appeal – Where no right, duty or liability remains to be remedied in the stay appeal – Where the primary judge ordered the applicant to pay the respondent’s party/party costs of the stay application – Where the respondent made an offer to the applicant similar to the stay orders – Where the applicant does not demonstrate how the findings were not validly open to the primary judge – Application for leave to appeal and appeal summarily dismissed.

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – INTERIM PARENTING – Where the children had not spent time with the father for four years – Allegations of sexual abuse – Where the primary judge found the risk of harm was ameliorated by supervised time in the interim – Alleged failure to apply s 60CC(2) of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) – Submissions as to effect of interim time on the mother put higher on appeal than at first instance – Where the primary judge did consider the relevant risks – Adequacy of reasons – Where the primary judge could not decide a number of factual disputes due to the interim nature of the decision – Reasoning process is apparent – Appeal dismissed – Appellant to pay the respondent’s costs in a fixed sum.

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – PROPERTY – Where the appellant was convicted of multiple offences of sexual assault against the daughter prior to the final hearing – Where the primary judge admitted the sentencing remarks from the District Court into evidence – Discussion of s 91 of the Evidence Act 1995 (Cth) – Where the reasons do not show the primary judge relied on the sentencing remarks to provide facts from which inferences could be drawn – Adequacy of reasons – Discussion of Kennon v Kennon (1997) FLC 92-757 – Where the primary judge found there was an inference that the respondent’s contributions were more arduous – Where the reasoning is clearly apparent – Appeal dismissed – Appellant to pay the respondent’s costs in a fixed sum.

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – PARENTING – Where the heart of the appeal is the assessment as to whether the father poses an unacceptable risk of harm to the child – Where the grounds of appeal assert mixtures of complaints as to legal, factual, and discretionary error – Where the primary judge correctly identified the applicable legislative framework and principles – Where the errors alleged by the father cannot be sustained on a plain reading of the reasons – No error demonstrated by the primary judge – Appeal dismissed – Costs ordered in favour of the mother and the Independent Children’s Lawyer.

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – DIVORCE – Where the appellant contended the parties were not married – Where the appellant asserted the subject marriage was to a person other than herself – Where many of the grounds of appeal fail to identify purported error – Where the appellant failed to make submissions on many of her grounds of appeal – Where the appellant reagitated matters put before and dealt with by the primary judge – No error identified – Appeal dismissed.

FAMILY LAW – APPLICATION IN AN APPEAL – Review of decision – Where the applicant seeks review of the appeal registrar’s decision to reject his Application in an Appeal seeking leave to file an appeal out of time – Where the primary judge made orders for the applicant to pay the respondent’s costs incidental to several hearings in the original proceedings – Where the applicant is a former solicitor of a party in the original proceedings – Where none of the grounds of appeal seem to have any reasonable prospects of success – Appeal dismissed.

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – PROPERTY – Where the husband appeals against final property orders – Where the husband complains of his denial of procedural fairness – Where the primary judge made an error in law by relying upon documents not in evidence – Appeal allowed – Orders of the primary judge set aside – Matter remitted.

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – ADULT CHILD MAINTENANCE – Where the primary judge summarily dismissed the application of the appellant wife seeking the husband pay adult child maintenance for the parties’ elder child – Where the wife was ordered to pay the husband’s costs of and incidental to the application – Where the wife appeals on grounds of legal, factual and discretionary error – Where the paramountcy principle does not apply to adult child maintenance applications – Where the primary judge correctly considered the factors prescribed by s 117(2A) of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) in making the costs order – Appeal dismissed – Mother’s Application in an Appeal to adduce further evidence dismissed – Costs ordered in a fixed sum in the husband’s favour.

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – PROPERTY – Where the husband appeals against final property orders – Where his complaints of judicial bias are rejected – Alleged insufficient judicial intervention – Where the husband could not articulate what more the primary judge could or should have done to ensure he was accorded procedural fairness – Legal error – Where the primary judge did not fail to account for the financial and non-financial contributions of the husband – Appeal dismissed – Costs ordered in a fixed sum in the wife’s favour.

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – PROPERTY – Where the wife appeals from final property orders – Where the wife asserts the primary judge displayed actual bias – Where aspects of the wife’s appeal are incomprehensible – Appeal dismissed – Written submissions to be filed in relation to costs.