SENIOR & ANDERSON

The case of Senior & Anderson concerned a financial agreement made between the parties on 27 July 2009. The central dispute revolved around whether this agreement was binding under the provisions of the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth), specifically s 90G(1) or s 90G(1A). The matter came before Young J following a remittance from the Full Court on appeal, which had itself differed on the application of certain amendments to the Act.

The court was required to determine the applicability of the *Federal Justice System Amendment (Efficiency Measures) Act (No. 1) 2009* (Cth) (the Transitional Act) to the financial agreement. This involved interpreting the form of s 90G(1) and s 90G(1A) that applied to the agreement, and whether the Transitional Act's provisions, including items 8(7), 8A(2), and 8A(3), were consistent with its underlying purpose. A key question was whether these provisions precluded the operation of s 90G(1A) to declare an agreement binding, notwithstanding non-compliance with s 90G(1)(c) where s 90G(1)(b) was satisfied. The court also considered whether extrinsic materials could be used in this interpretation and the court's power to declare an agreement binding under s 90G(1A).

Young J reasoned that the financial agreement was not binding under either s 90G(1) or s 90G(1A) of the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth), as amended by the Transitional Act. Consequently, the agreement did not preclude the application of Part VIII of the Act. The court dismissed various applications by both the wife and the husband, including the husband's application to further amend his response to seek a declaration that the agreement be binding. The court also made orders for the listing of the matter for further case management and directions regarding final property settlement orders.