Welland & Hawthorn

This matter concerned an application by Ms Welland against Mr Hawthorn. The dispute involved family law proceedings, and the court was required to determine whether to grant leave to the applicant to proceed with her application, despite a delay in filing.

The central legal issues before the court were the hardship the applicant would face if leave were not granted, and whether the explanation provided for the delay in commencing proceedings was adequate. The court also considered the provisions of section 121 of the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth), which prohibits the publication of identifying details in family law proceedings.

Justice Boyle accepted that the applicant would experience hardship if leave were not granted. However, the court was not satisfied that, in all the circumstances, it should exercise its discretion to grant leave. The applicant had received legal advice regarding her evidence a year prior to separation and on several occasions thereafter, yet took no steps to file proceedings. Furthermore, the court found no satisfactory explanation for the delay and noted the absence of evidence, such as mental health reports, to support any claim of vulnerability affecting the applicant's ability to manage the proceedings.

Consequently, the application filed on 7 November 2019 was dismissed.