SCRIBE AND SCRIBE

This case concerned an appeal by a husband against an order of Barry J of the Family Court of Australia, which had set aside previous consent orders made on 11 November 2001. The dispute revolved around whether the original consent orders should have been discharged due to misleading information presented to the court at the time they were made.

The primary legal issue before the Full Court of the Family Court of Australia was whether the discretion under section 79A(1) of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) had been correctly exercised by the primary judge in setting aside the consent orders. This involved considering the principles governing the setting aside of orders obtained by misleading or false evidence, and the importance of finality in litigation.

The Full Court, comprising Bryant CJ, Finn and May JJ, found that the primary judge had erred in setting aside the consent orders. They relied on the principles articulated in *Taylor v Taylor* and *Rohde v Rohde*, which emphasize the court's reluctance to set aside orders solely on the basis of misleading evidence, particularly when it would allow parties to relitigate matters to escape financial difficulties they contributed to. The Court noted that while the wife had provided misleading information, she had also failed to seek proper legal advice, a factor that weighed against her in the exercise of discretion. The husband, while bearing some responsibility for the misleading advice, was not the party seeking to set aside the orders.

Consequently, the Full Court allowed the appeal, setting aside Barry J's order of 18 February 2005 and the subsequent property settlement orders made by him. The matter was remitted for the original consent orders of 11 November 2001 to be reinstated.