Media mogul Antony Catalano, who is alleged to have choked, strangled or suffocated his wife and threatened to stab her to death, is now free to leave Victoria and head to Byron Bay in NSW after his bail conditions were varied.
He is free to visit his wife and children and to go to his Byron Bay home provided he is not affected by drugs or alcohol.
Mr Catalano has been charged with eight criminal offences relating to his alleged assault of his wife, Stefanie Catalano, in St Kilda, Melbourne, on March 13.
He appeared via video link for a mention in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday before magistrate Stephen Lee.
Mr Catalano’s lawyer, Tony Hargreaves, successfully applied for a variation of Mr Catalano’s bail conditions to allow him to leave the state of Victoria, which he told the court was by consent.
Mr Hargreaves told the court the parties had not yet resolved the criminal matter, which was adjourned to July 1 for a further mention.
Mr Catalano, wearing a suit with a grey tie, spoke to confirm he could hear the proceeding and to thank Mr Lee after he varied his bail conditions. He had his arms crossed and rested his head in his hands for parts of the short proceeding.
Documents released by the court last month revealed police allege Mr Catalano threatened his wife by telling her he would kill her “by stabbing her to death”, and that he unlawfully imprisoned her and “detained her against her will”.
Police have also charged with Mr Catalano with suffocating his wife.
“The accused at St Kilda on March 13, 2026, did without lawful excuse intentionally choke, strangle, or suffocate a family member, namely Stefanie Catalano,” the charge sheets read.
The 59-year-old has also been charged with recklessly causing injury to Ms Catalano, as well as four counts of assaulting her, one “with a weapon, being a clothing iron”.
Mr Catalano was placed on leave at Australian Community Media and checked into rehab after his arrest in March.
According to a report by the ABC, which obtained a recording of Mr Catalano’s bail application in the magistrates court on the night of March 13, police alleged Mr Catalano dragged Ms Catalano around their St Kilda penthouse by her hair and ankles, and swung a clothes iron at her, in an alleged assault that left her with a fractured coccyx.
