COBBETT & ROLLAND

In the Family Court of Australia, Mr Cobbett (the applicant father) sought an extension of time to file a Notice of Appeal against orders made by Federal Magistrate Cole on 26 February 2013. Ms Rolland (the respondent mother) opposed this application. The dispute arose because the ex tempore reasons for judgment from Federal Magistrate Cole were not provided to the parties until 19 March 2013, significantly reducing the time available to consider an appeal within the standard 28-day period.

The court was required to determine whether to grant the father an extension of time to file his Notice of Appeal. This involved considering the circumstances surrounding the delay in receiving the reasons for judgment and whether granting the extension would serve the interests of justice. The court also had to consider an Application in a Case filed by the father on 22 March 2013, which was dismissed.

Justice Strickland applied the well-settled principles for granting extensions of time, citing *Gallo v Dawson* (1990) 93 ALR 479, which establishes that the overriding principle is whether granting an extension will enable justice to be done. His Honour found that the father had not had ample time to consider an appeal due to the delay in the Federal Magistrate publishing his reasons. The court concluded that the father had acted appropriately in seeking an extension and that the interests of justice favoured granting it. Consequently, the court ordered that the time for filing the Notice of Appeal be extended to 16 April 2013.