Official Trustee in Bankruptcy & Galanis & Anor

The Official Trustee in Bankruptcy applied to the Family Court of Australia to set aside a financial agreement entered into between a husband and wife after the husband's discharge from bankruptcy. Property had been transferred to the wife under this agreement. The wife contended that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the Official Trustee's application under the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth).

The central legal issues before the court were whether the Official Trustee's application constituted a "matrimonial cause" within the meaning of the Act, whether the husband qualified as a "bankrupt party" for the purposes of the Act, and whether the Official Trustee was a "government body" as defined by the Act. The court was required to determine if the Official Trustee possessed the necessary standing to bring the application.

Rees J found that the Official Trustee did not have standing to bring the application. Consequently, the application was dismissed. The court also considered the matter of costs, noting the Official Trustee's failure to specify the jurisdictional basis for its application when requested by the wife, and the disparity in the parties' financial circumstances.

The court ordered that the Official Trustee's application be dismissed and that the Official Trustee pay the wife's costs of the proceedings on a solicitor and client basis.