Stott & Stott

In the matter of *Stott & Stott*, heard by Taglieri J of the Federal Circuit Court of Australia, Mr Stott (the applicant father) and Ms Stott (the respondent mother) were involved in proceedings concerning their child. The dispute centred on the mother's application to transfer proceedings to the Family Court of Western Australia, which the father opposed.

The court was required to determine whether to grant the mother's application to transfer the proceedings to Western Australia, considering the interests of justice. This involved assessing various factors, including the parties' past and present residences, their movements since separation, the mother's stated inability to secure legal aid and produce materials, the location of relevant witnesses, and the potential financial and practical burdens of conducting proceedings in different jurisdictions. The court also considered the mother's health condition and its potential impact on travel.

Taglieri J reasoned that while the mother and child were residing in Western Australia and had an interim order for them to live there, the father had moved to Tasmania for work and had moved around since separation. The court noted that the mother had not filed substantial materials, attributing this to a lack of legal aid, a claim the court found difficult to accept given the availability of community legal services and the Independent Children's Lawyer's (ICL) challenge to this assertion. The court found that most relevant witnesses resided in Victoria, and their attendance there would be less costly than in Western Australia, a point not disputed by the mother. While acknowledging that transferring proceedings to Victoria would impose a greater financial burden on the mother, particularly given her arthritic condition, the court considered this in light of the overall interests of justice and the practicalities of presenting evidence.

The court ordered that the requirements for filing, service, and hearing of the mother's application for transfer be dispensed with. The proceedings, including the father's contravention application, were transferred to the Family Court of Western Australia. The listing on 2 August 2021 in the Hobart Registry was vacated. The court also noted the need to request legal aid for an Independent Children's Lawyer in Western Australia and that the father's Application for Divorce would remain listed in the Federal Circuit Court of Australia.