BEST & BEST

In the Family Court of Australia, Justice Watts considered an application by the father to vary existing parenting orders, brought pursuant to s 70NBA of the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth). This application was made in the context of a contravention application brought against the father.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the father had established grounds to vary the parenting orders. A secondary issue concerned the father's application for costs, particularly given his status as a self-represented litigant.

Justice Watts approached the interpretation of s 70NBA purposively. The court found no evidence of any change in circumstances that would warrant a variation of the existing orders, nor did it find the orders themselves to be difficult to understand. Consequently, the father's application to vary the parenting orders was dismissed. The father's subsequent application for costs was also dismissed, as he had not adduced evidence of any costs or expenses incurred, and the mother's conduct in bringing her application was deemed justifiable. The father had been wholly unsuccessful in his application to vary the parenting orders.