Meadows & Meadows (No 4)

In *Meadows & Meadows (No 4)*, the father sought orders under section 102Q of the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth) to prohibit the mother from instituting further proceedings. The dispute centred on whether proceedings commenced by the mother since April 2020, and following final orders made in 2019, constituted vexatious litigation. The father argued these actions were an attempt to re-litigate issues already determined by the court.

The central legal issue before Henderson J was whether the mother had instituted vexatious proceedings frequently, as contemplated by the Act. This required the court to assess the nature and purpose of the proceedings commenced by the mother after the final orders were made.

Henderson J found that the mother's subsequent proceedings were indeed vexatious, constituting an attempt to re-litigate matters that had already been finally determined. Consequently, the court made orders prohibiting the mother from instituting any further proceedings under the Act against or in relation to the father or the child, B, without first obtaining leave of the Court pursuant to section 102QD. This prohibition did not extend to applications for costs arising from these orders, appeals from these orders, applications for transcripts, or the filing of responses or affidavits in reply.