Bulleen and Bulleen (No 2)

The Full Court of the Family Court of Australia considered an application for costs in proceedings between a husband and wife. The dispute concerned the wife's liability for the husband's costs incurred in relation to proceedings that concluded with orders made on 8 March 2012.

The primary legal issue before the Full Court was whether the wife should be ordered to pay a proportion of the husband's costs associated with the earlier proceedings. This involved an assessment of the conduct of the parties during those proceedings and whether any such conduct warranted a costs order against the wife.

The Full Court reasoned that while the wife had been unsuccessful in her application for costs, the husband had been partially successful in his application for costs. The Court determined that the wife should pay three-quarters of the husband's costs arising from the proceedings culminating in the orders of 8 March 2012. This decision was based on an assessment of the overall conduct of the parties in those earlier proceedings. The Court further ordered that all other applications for costs were dismissed.