MARING & BENISH

In the matter of *Maring & Benish*, heard before Judge C Kelly, the mother sought to vary final parenting orders made on 11 July 2019. The original orders had granted the father sole parental responsibility for the two children, who lived with him, and significantly restricted the mother's contact to sending cards, letters, or photographs once a month, on birthdays, and at Christmas, with the father to facilitate the children's responses if they wished. The mother's fresh application was filed approximately nine months after these final orders were made.

The central legal issue before the court was whether the mother's fresh application for parenting orders should be summarily dismissed. This required the court to consider the principles established in *Rice v Asplund* regarding the circumstances under which a court may refuse to hear a fresh application for parenting orders, particularly in light of the finality of previous orders and the need to protect children from ongoing litigation. The court also had to consider the weight to be given to the children's views in the context of a summary dismissal application.

Judge C Kelly applied the principles from *Rice v Asplund*, which generally require a significant and material change in circumstances to justify a departure from final parenting orders. The court found that the mother had failed to demonstrate any such change in circumstances that would warrant a full hearing of her application. Consequently, the court determined that it was appropriate to summarily dismiss the mother's application to avoid further litigation and potential disruption to the children's lives.

The court ordered the summary dismissal of the mother's Initiating Application filed on 2 March 2020, pursuant to Rule 13.07 of the Federal Circuit Court Rules 2001. The final parenting orders pronounced on 11 July 2019 were therefore continued, with the addition of provisions allowing the children to spend time or communicate with the mother as they requested, and requiring the father to facilitate any such requests to re-establish communication or spend time with the mother.