Garrety & Steyn (No. 2)

The parties to this proceeding are Mr Garrety (the applicant father) and Ms Steyn (the respondent mother). The dispute concerns final parenting orders made in December 2014 and subsequently varied in March 2019. The father sought to re-contest the parenting orders, alleging changed circumstances, while the mother denied any material change. The matter came before Austin J of the Family Court of Australia.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether there had been a material change of circumstances since the last final parenting orders were made in March 2019, which would warrant a revision of those orders. This required the court to consider the application of the *Rice & Asplund* principle, which dictates that final parenting orders will not be revised unless a material change in circumstances can be demonstrated. The court also had to determine whether to transfer the proceedings from the Newcastle Registry to the Parramatta Registry, as requested by the mother.

Austin J applied the principles from *Walden & Cooper*, which summarise the *Rice & Asplund* guideline. The court acknowledged that while no parenting order is immutable, revision requires proof of a material change in circumstances. The court noted that this determination could occur at a preliminary inquiry or a comprehensive hearing, and that procedural fairness must be observed. In this instance, the mother sought dismissal at a preliminary stage, requiring the court to accept the father's evidence of changed circumstances at its highest. The court found that there had been a material change of circumstances, noting the continued involvement of police, ambulance officers, and emergency doctors in relation to the children's welfare.

The court ordered that the substantive proceedings be transferred to the Parramatta Registry. The application for interim relief by the father, and the applications for interim and procedural relief by the mother, were dismissed. Any other outstanding applications for interim relief were also dismissed.