Gambetto & Farrelli

The case of Gambetto & Farrelli involved an appeal against an order made on 7 July 2022. The order was set aside for nullity, but the appeal was dismissed for futility. The underlying matter was a parenting dispute concerning a child, now aged nine, which was initiated by the appellant against the respondent in June 2021. The Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) was invoked, and an Independent Children's Lawyer was appointed to represent the child's interests on 15 September 2021. Several applications were filed by the appellant in May and June 2022, including applications for review and in proceedings, as well as applications for contempt against the respondent, her lawyers, and the Independent Children's Lawyer. Some of these applications were rejected due to incorrect formatting, and the appellant sought to review the decision to reject the applications. The primary judge listed the applications for hearing on 8 July 2022, but later rescheduled the hearing to 7 July 2022 to allow the appellant to make submissions regarding the fourth application. The appeal against the order made on 7 July 2022 was dismissed for futility as the order had no effect on the outcome of the case. The court found that the appeal was an abuse of process and that the appellant had no real prospect of success in the appeal. The court also found that the order made on 7 July 2022 was null and void due to a jurisdictional error, as the primary judge had no jurisdiction to make the order as the fourth and fifth applications had not been filed. The appeal was dismissed, and the order made on 7 July 2022 was set aside for nullity.