CURTIN & CURTIN

An application for contempt was brought by the father against the mother, alleging non-compliance with court orders requiring both parties to apply to a contact centre for assessment of suitability for its services. The court was the Federal Circuit Court of Australia.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the mother was in contempt of the orders. A secondary issue concerned the mother's application for costs arising from the contempt application, given the father's lack of success.

Johns J found that neither party had strictly complied with the order. Crucially, the father had failed to serve the contempt application on the mother in accordance with rule 7.03 of the Family Law Rules 2004 (Cth). His Honour determined that there was no flagrant challenge to the authority of the court, and therefore, the application for contempt was dismissed. Regarding costs, the father was wholly unsuccessful in his contempt application and had also failed to properly serve the application. Considering the financial positions of the parties, the court ordered the father to pay the mother's costs in a fixed sum of $2,000, with payment stayed for 21 days.