CLARKE & VARGAS

In the matter of *Clarke & Vargas*, Hogan J of the Family Court of Australia considered an application by the father to vary final parenting orders made in February 2014 following a five-day trial. The father sought to revisit the established parenting arrangements, and also sought to review an earlier order that had dismissed an interim parenting application.

The central legal issue before the court was whether there had been a sufficient change in circumstances since the final orders were made to justify a new hearing. The court was required to consider the principles established in *Rice & Asplund* (1979) FLC 90-725 regarding the circumstances under which final parenting orders can be revisited. A further consideration was whether it was in the child's best interests to be involved in further litigation.

Hogan J determined that the change in the father's circumstances was not of sufficient significance to warrant revisiting the parenting arrangements. The court found that it was not in the child's best interests to be subjected to further litigation. Consequently, both the Initiating Application filed on 15 August 2014 and the Application in a Case filed on 31 December 2014 were dismissed. The court also made provision for the consideration of costs in chambers, outlining a process for written submissions from both parties.