Lane and Lane

The Family Court of Australia considered an application by the wife to set aside consent orders made on 4 March 2003 concerning the alteration of property interests. The wife sought to have these orders set aside pursuant to s 79A of the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth) and for new orders to be made regarding the division of the parties' net assets. The husband sought dismissal of the wife's application and an order for costs.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether it should exercise its discretion under s 79A of the *Family Law Act 1975* to set aside the consent orders. This question arose from the wife's submission that a miscarriage of justice had occurred due to the husband's alleged failure to disclose relevant financial information. It was common ground between the parties that the financial circumstances submitted to the court at the time the consent orders were made substantially understated their true financial position.

The Court's reasoning focused on the wife's credibility and the basis upon which she entered into the consent orders. While acknowledging the understatement of financial circumstances, the Court found that the wife did not assert that she agreed to the consent orders based on any specific representations made by the husband regarding his financial position. Furthermore, the wife was aware of the existence of the assets in question. Given these findings, and problems with the wife's credibility, the Court was not satisfied that she entered into the consent orders as a consequence of duress or suppression of evidence, nor that a miscarriage of justice had occurred.

Consequently, the wife's application to set aside the consent orders for property settlement was dismissed.