Fenuel and Graham

In the matter of *Fenuel and Graham*, heard by Carter J, the court considered applications concerning contraventions of existing family law orders and the imposition of protective orders. The proceedings involved a husband and wife, with the primary dispute revolving around the wife's alleged breaches of orders designed for the personal protection of the parties' three children and the husband.

The legal issues before the court included whether the wife had contravened specific paragraphs of earlier orders made on 26 March 2007, particularly those relating to approaching, attending at, or contacting the children. The court was also required to determine the appropriate response to these contraventions, including the potential imposition of sanctions and the awarding of costs. Furthermore, the court had to consider the husband's applications for protective orders against the wife and the wife's own applications, which were to be dismissed.

Carter J determined that the wife had contravened paragraph 1(a) of the orders made on 26 March 2007 on multiple occasions. These contraventions included telephoning and speaking to one of the children, communicating with the child via email, and engaging in online communication through MySpace.com and msn.com. The court also found that the wife had contravened paragraph 1(a) by sending three emails to the husband on 18 September 2007. However, no sanction was imposed under s 112AD of the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth) for this latter contravention. The court also made orders for the personal protection of the children and the husband, restraining the wife from approaching or contacting them within specified distances and by any means.

The court ordered that the wife contribute $2,000 towards the husband's costs incurred in the proceedings under Division 13A of Part VII of the Act. The wife's Form 1A and Form 2A Responses were dismissed. The husband's applications, including his contravention application, were also dismissed, save for any questions of costs. The matter was then removed from the list of cases awaiting determination.