BADER & SPINNER

In the matter of *Bader & Spinner*, the husband sought enforcement of orders requiring the wife to provide vacant possession of the former matrimonial home for sale. The wife had failed to comply with these orders, which had been in place since September 2018. The husband also sought to bifurcate the hearing of the wife's application under s 79A of the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth) from any property proceedings. The court was asked to determine whether to grant an adjournment of the enforcement proceedings, whether to issue a warrant for possession, and whether to bifurcate the hearing of the s 79A application.

The court was required to consider the wife's application for an adjournment in light of the protracted history of enforcement proceedings and her persistent non-compliance with court orders. It also had to determine whether the circumstances warranted the exercise of its discretion to issue a warrant for possession to enforce the existing orders. Furthermore, the court needed to decide whether to separate the hearing of the wife's application to set aside or vary the property orders from any subsequent property proceedings, based on the distinct factual grounds underpinning each.

Justice Macmillan denied the wife's application for an adjournment, finding no circumstances that would justify not enforcing the existing orders given the history of the proceedings. Consequently, the husband's application for a warrant for possession was granted, authorising an enforcement officer to eject the wife from the property. The court also ordered that the wife's s 79A application be heard separately from any property proceedings, acknowledging that the grounds for setting aside or varying the orders could be delineated from the facts supporting the exercise of discretion under s 79A. The court issued detailed orders regarding the listing of the s 79A hearing, the filing of evidence, and the procedure for any objections to evidence.