COUSINS & PEAKE (No.2)

In *Cousins & Peake (No.2)*, the Federal Circuit Court considered an application by the Father for costs arising from the Mother's unsuccessful applications for a child support departure order and for enforcement of prior orders. The Father contended that he had made reasonable settlement offers throughout the proceedings.

The central legal issue before Judge Bender was whether the Mother should be ordered to pay the Father's costs, given her complete failure in the departure order application and the Father's conduct in making appropriate settlement offers.

Judge Bender reasoned that the Mother's unsuccessful departure order application, coupled with the Father's reasonable settlement offers, justified an order for costs in his favour. The Court applied the general principle that costs follow the event, particularly where one party has been wholly unsuccessful and the other has acted reasonably in attempting to resolve the dispute.

Consequently, the Court ordered the Mother to pay the Father's costs arising from her child support departure application and her subsequent Application in a Case, fixing the total sum payable at $8,932, to be paid on or before 9 February 2018, in accordance with the Federal Circuit Court scale.