This Part   is about when an Australian court may stay a proceeding on the grounds that a New Zealand court is the more appropriate court to determine the matters in issue .

The Australian court may only stay the proceeding if the defendant applies for the proceeding to be stayed. The defendant must make the application within 30 working days after being served with the initiating document for the proceeding, or such shorter or longer period that the court considers appropriate.

The Australian court may only stay the proceeding if it is satisfied that a New Zealand court has jurisdiction to determine the matters in issue and that it is the more appropriate court to determine those matters. In determining whether the New Zealand court is the more appropriate court, the Australian court must take certain matters into account. They are set out in section   19.

However, if the parties have made an exclusive choice of court agreement that designates either an Australian court or a New Zealand court as the court to determine the matters in issue , the Australian court 's order as to whether or not to stay the proceeding must be consistent with that agreement (see section   20).