KEDRINA & AMERY

The wife sought to set aside final property settlement orders made in 2015 and a related spouse maintenance agreement, pursuant to section 79A of the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth). The husband applied for a permanent stay of these proceedings, arguing they constituted an abuse of process and were barred by *Anshun* estoppel. The matter came before Foster J in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia.

The central legal issue was whether the wife's application to set aside the previous orders and agreement should be permanently stayed as an abuse of process, specifically invoking the doctrine of *Anshun* estoppel. This required the court to consider the principles governing the finality of litigation and the circumstances in which a party may be prevented from raising claims that could have been, or were, litigated in prior proceedings.

Foster J applied the principles of *Anshun* estoppel, which prevents a party from bringing a claim that could and should have been litigated in earlier proceedings between the same parties. His Honour found that the issues raised by the wife in her application were matters that could and should have been addressed in the original proceedings that led to the 2015 orders. The court determined that allowing the wife to pursue these claims would constitute an abuse of process, undermining the finality of the previous judgment.

Consequently, Foster J ordered that the wife's Initiating Application filed on 2 January 2018, as amended, be permanently stayed.