BONDELMONTE & BONDELMONTE

In the matter of Bondelmonte & Bondelmonte, Judge Scarlett of the Family Court of Australia considered an application by the father to reopen parenting proceedings concerning the parties' daughter, following consent parenting orders made on 25 June 2014. The dispute also involved an application for interim orders filed on 11 December 2014.

The court was required to determine whether to grant the father's application to reopen the parenting proceedings and whether to grant the interim orders sought. A further issue was the appropriateness of an injunction that merely restated the effect of section 121 of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth).

Judge Scarlett dismissed the application for interim orders, finding insufficient evidence to support it. The court reasoned that an injunction merely restating the effect of section 121 of the Family Law Act 1975 was unnecessary and undesirable. The court also ordered that the interests of the children be independently represented by a lawyer, requesting Legal Aid New South Wales to arrange such representation, and directed the parties to provide relevant documents to the appointed Independent Children's Lawyer. The applications were otherwise transferred to the Family Court of Australia at Sydney for further listing, with costs to be costs in the cause.