Bradbury and Lander and Ors (No 2)

The Family Court of Australia, in *Bradbury & Lander and Ors (No 2)*, considered procedural matters in a child-related proceeding. The applicant was Mr Bradbury, the respondent was Ms Lander, and the second respondents were Ms B Lander and Mr Lander. An Independent Children’s Lawyer also participated in the proceedings. The central dispute revolved around determining the best interests of the child, Y, in light of multiple previous interim orders.

The court was required to determine the appropriate focus for submissions in the current interim proceedings. Specifically, the court had to decide whether to re-examine all historical circumstances or to concentrate on events that had occurred since the initial interim orders were made on 3 March 2017. This determination was to be made in accordance with the court's duty to actively manage proceedings and decide which issues require full investigation.

Justice Gill reasoned that, given the history of six previous interim determinations (made by consent or contest) regarding Y's living arrangements, it was appropriate to focus submissions on events subsequent to the first interim orders. The court applied principles from sections 69ZN and 69ZQ of the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth), which mandate active case management and the identification of issues requiring full hearing. The court noted that repeatedly re-litigating the same issues is detrimental to children and that previous orders, unless demonstrably flawed, can be relied upon. Furthermore, section 69ZX(3) permits the court to adopt findings from other courts. The court concluded that, subject to hearing from the parties, the current circumstances, including the volume of previous determinations and the generality of the mother's assertions, militated against a broad re-examination of earlier matters.

The court directed that the parties were to focus their submissions on matters that had occurred following the initial making of orders on 3 March 2017, in order to determine what is in Y’s best interests.