Fierro & Fierro - [2025] FedCFamC1A 154

FEDERAL CIRCUIT AND FAMILY COURT OF AUSTRALIA
(DIVISION 1) APPELLATE JURISDICTION
Fierro & Fierro [2025] FedCFamC1A 154

Appeal from: Orders of 11 June 2025

Appeal number: NAA 343 of 2025

File number: HBC 395 of 2024

Judgment of: AUSTIN J

Date of judgment: 28 August 2025

Catchwords: FAMILY LAW – APPLICATION IN AN APPEAL – Review of decision – Where the applicant successfully resisted the first respondent’s application to bring an appeal out of time, but is aggrieved by the content of the reasons for decision delivered by the appeal registrar – Where the appeal registrar made no finding of fact and benignly recited the litigation history between the parties – Where there is no jurisdiction or power to amend, redact or delete portions of the appeal registrar’s reasons – Where there is no basis to suppress the reasons – Where sufficient privacy is given when the reasons are not publishable without anonymisation – Where the orders made by the appeal registrar need not be disturbed – Application dismissed.

Legislation:
Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) Pt VII, XIVB, ss 102PE, 102PF

Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Family Law) Rules 2021 (Cth) rr 13.40, 14.07

Cases cited: Faldyn & Badenoch [2022] FedCFamC1A 170

Number of paragraphs: 20

Date of hearing: On the papers in chambers

Place: Sydney

The Applicant: Litigant in person

The First Respondent: Litigant in person

The Second Respondent: Litigant in person

Solicitor for the Independent Children's Lawyer: Tasmania Legal Aid
ORDERS

NAA 343 of 2025
HBC 395 of 2024

FEDERAL CIRCUIT AND FAMILY COURT OF AUSTRALIA
DIVISION 1 APPELLATE JURISDICTION

BETWEEN:
MR FIERRO

Applicant

AND:
MR A FIERRO

First Respondent

MS BIEN

Second Respondent

INDEPENDENT CHILDREN'S LAWYER

ORDER MADE BY:

AUSTIN J

DATE OF ORDER:

28 AUGUST 2025

THE COURT ORDERS THAT:
1.The Application in an Appeal filed on 25 August 2025 is dismissed.

Note: The form of the order is subject to the entry in the Court’s records.
Note: This copy of the Court’s Reasons for judgment may be subject to review to remedy minor typographical or grammatical errors (r 10.14(b) Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Family Law) Rules 2021 (Cth)), or to record a variation to the order pursuant to r 10.13 Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Family Law) Rules 2021 (Cth).
Part XIVB of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) makes it an offence, except in very limited circumstances, to publish an account of proceedings that identify persons, associated persons, or witnesses involved in family law proceedings.
IT IS NOTED that publication of this judgment by this Court under the pseudonym Fierro & Fierro has been approved pursuant to subsection 114Q(2) of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth).
REASONS FOR JUDGMENT
AUSTIN J:

The Application in an Appeal filed on 25 August 2025 is dismissed for the following reasons.
History
The parties are involved in child-related proceedings under Pt VII of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) (“the Act”).
The applicant is the half-sibling of the subject child.
The…

Grounds of appeal

[14] The appellant contends that the primary judge erred in finding that the respondent had discharged the onus of establishing the matters required under the relevant provision.

[15] It was submitted that his Honour failed to give adequate weight to the evidence of the second witness, and that the findings of fact were not reasonably open on the material before the Court.

[16] The respondent, for its part, submits that no error is disclosed, and that the conclusions reached were well within the range of outcomes available to the primary judge.

Consideration

[17] It is convenient to deal first with the question of construction, as the resolution of that issue informs the remaining grounds advanced by the appellant.

[18] For the reasons that follow, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed in part and the matter remitted for further determination.

Continue reading Fierro & Fierro

Details

AGLC: Fierro & Fierro [2025] FedCFamC1A 154
Case: [2025] FedCFamC1A 154
Decision Date: 28 August 2025

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The applicant, Mr Fierro, filed an application in an appeal against the decision of the appeal registrar who had rejected an application to bring an appeal out of time. Mr Fierro was aggrieved by the reasons provided by the appeal registrar for dismissing his application. The first respondent, Mr A Fierro, and the second respondent, Ms Bien, sought to dismiss the application. The matter was heard in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia, Appellate Division.

The central legal issue before the court was whether the appeal registrar's reasons for dismissing the appeal could be amended, redacted, or suppressed. The court had to determine if there was any jurisdiction or power to alter the appeal registrar’s reasons or to prevent their publication. Additionally, the court needed to consider whether the orders made by the appeal registrar required any modification.

The court held that there was no jurisdiction or power to amend, redact, or delete parts of the appeal registrar's reasons. There was also no basis to suppress the reasons entirely. The court further noted that sufficient privacy could be achieved if the reasons were not publishable without anonymisation. Since the appeal registrar had not made any factual findings and merely recounted the litigation history between the parties, the orders made by the appeal registrar did not need to be disturbed. Consequently, the application was dismissed.

Orders

Orders of the court

NAA 343 of 2025

HBC 395 of 2024

FEDERAL CIRCUIT AND FAMILY COURT OF AUSTRALIA

DIVISION 1 APPELLATE JURISDICTION

BETWEEN:

MR FIERRO

Applicant

AND:

MR A FIERRO

First Respondent

MS BIEN

Second Respondent

INDEPENDENT CHILDREN'S LAWYER

ORDER MADE BY:

AUSTIN J

DATE OF ORDER:

28 AUGUST 2025

THE COURT ORDERS THAT:

1. The Application in an Appeal filed on 25 August 2025 is dismissed.

Note: The form of the order is subject to the entry in the Court’s records.

Note: This copy of the Court’s Reasons for judgment may be subject to review to remedy minor typographical or grammatical errors (r 10.14(b) Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Family Law) Rules 2021 (Cth)), or to record a variation to the order pursuant to r 10.13 Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Family Law) Rules 2021 (Cth).

Part XIVB of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) makes it an offence, except in very limited circumstances, to publish an account of proceedings that identify persons, associated persons, or witnesses involved in family law proceedings.

Background

Background to the litigation

Full text does not contain this section.

Evidence

Evidence Before The Court

Full text does not contain this section.

Decision

Reasons for decision

Full text does not contain this section.

Ratio Decidendi

Legal Principle Established

Full text does not contain this section.

NAA 343 of 2025 HBC 395 of 2024
FEDERAL CIRCUIT AND FAMILY COURT OF AUSTRALIA DIVISION 1 APPELLATE JURISDICTION
BETWEEN:	MR FIERRO Applicant
AND:	MR A FIERRO First Respondent MS BIEN Second Respondent
INDEPENDENT CHILDREN'S LAWYER

Appeal from:		Orders of 11 June 2025
Appeal number:		NAA 343 of 2025
File number:	HBC 395 of 2024
Judgment of:	AUSTIN J
Date of judgment:	28 August 2025
Catchwords:	FAMILY LAW – APPLICATION IN AN APPEAL – Review of decision – Where the applicant successfully resisted the first respondent’s application to bring an appeal out of time, but is aggrieved by the content of the reasons for decision delivered by the appeal registrar – Where the appeal registrar made no finding of fact and benignly recited the litigation history between the parties – Where there is no jurisdiction or power to amend, redact or delete portions of the appeal registrar’s reasons – Where there is no basis to suppress the reasons – Where sufficient privacy is given when the reasons are not publishable without anonymisation – Where the orders made by the appeal registrar need not be disturbed – Application dismissed.
Legislation:	Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) Pt VII, XIVB, ss 102PE, 102PF Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Family Law) Rules 2021 (Cth) rr 13.40, 14.07
Cases cited:	Faldyn & Badenoch [2022] FedCFamC1A 170
Number of paragraphs:	20
Date of hearing:	On the papers in chambers
Place:	Sydney
The Applicant:	Litigant in person
The First Respondent:	Litigant in person
The Second Respondent:	Litigant in person
Solicitor for the Independent Children's Lawyer:	Tasmania Legal Aid

ORDER MADE BY:	AUSTIN J
DATE OF ORDER:	28 AUGUST 2025