Murray and East

In the matter of *Murray and East*, heard before Murphy J, the applicants sought leave to commence adoption proceedings for a child, A, born in May 2002. The dispute concerned the procedural requirements for initiating these adoption proceedings.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the applicants should be granted leave to commence adoption proceedings pursuant to section 60G of the *Family Law Act 1975*. A secondary issue was whether service of the Case Application and Affidavit filed by the applicants on 2 December 2009 should be dispensed with, allowing the application to be heard ex-parte.

Murphy J granted leave to the applicants to commence adoption proceedings under section 60G of the *Family Law Act 1975*. Furthermore, the court granted leave to dispense with service of the Case Application and Affidavit filed on 2 December 2009, permitting the application to proceed on an ex-parte basis.