W and Director General Department of Community Services & Ors

The parties involved were the mother, the Director-General of the Department of Community Services (as the Central Authority), and the father. The dispute concerned an application to set aside orders for the return of a child to the United States under the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction. The mother had successfully appealed against the initial dismissal of her application. The father sought an order for his costs, including travel expenses, to be paid by the Central Authority or, alternatively, by the mother and/or her mother, who was not a party to the appeal. The matter was heard by Bryant CJ, Kay and Boland JJ.

The primary legal issues before the court were whether costs could be ordered against the Central Authority in Convention proceedings, whether the father had been substantially successful in his opposition to the appeal to warrant such an order, and whether costs could be awarded against the maternal grandmother, who was not a party to the proceedings. The court also considered the application of section 117(1) of the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth) to the circumstances.

The court reasoned that costs orders against the Central Authority in Convention proceedings are limited to parties who have been substantially successful in the appeal. In this instance, the father was wholly unsuccessful in his opposition to the mother's appeal because further evidence, which the court permitted to be adduced, demonstrated the child’s objection to returning to the USA. Consequently, the father did not meet the threshold for an order for costs against the Central Authority. Furthermore, the court held that no order could be made against the maternal grandmother as she was not a party to the proceedings. The court found no exceptional circumstances to justify making an order contrary to the general provisions of section 117(1) of the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth).