VENTURE & VENTURE (No.4)

In *Venture & Venture (No.4)*, Judge Scarlett of the Federal Circuit Court of Australia considered allegations of contravention of parenting orders made on 19 December 2014. The applicant alleged that the respondent had contravened orders requiring her to refrain from making disparaging remarks about the applicant in the presence of the child, X, and to avoid discussing proceedings with the child or passing messages through the child to the applicant. The court also dealt with an application for costs and the transfer of substantive property and parenting proceedings.

The primary legal issues before the court were whether the respondent had contravened specific parenting orders, and if so, whether such contraventions constituted a "less serious contravention" under Subdivision E of Division 13A of the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth). The court was also required to determine whether to impose a bond, make an order for costs against the respondent, and whether to transfer the substantive proceedings to the Family Court of Australia.

Judge Scarlett found that the respondent had contravened the parenting orders on two occasions: first, by making a disparaging remark about the applicant in the presence of the child X on 7 June 2015, and second, by discussing the proceedings with the child X and passing a message to the applicant through the child on 12 June 2015. The court determined that these contraventions were less serious, noting the absence of previous contraventions of the primary order and that the respondent had not behaved in a way that showed a serious disregard for her obligations. Consequently, the court ordered the respondent to enter into a bond for twelve months, conditional upon her being of good behaviour and complying with the existing parenting orders.

The court also ordered the respondent to pay the applicant's costs fixed at $12,701.00, to be paid from the respondent's entitlement from the property settlement. Finally, considering the estimated duration of the substantive proceedings and the relevant protocol, the court ordered the transfer of the property and parenting proceedings to the Family Court of Australia at Sydney for listing before a Registrar.