Can parties agree to skip a case conference and go straight to a settlement conference?

In some circumstances, yes, but it generally requires the court's agreement, not just the parties' own agreement — the Family Law Rules set out case conferences as a standard early step, and while a court has some flexibility to combine or adjust these steps where it makes sense, skipping a step entirely usually needs to be raised with, and approved by, the court rather than assumed automatically just because both parties would prefer it.

Courts are sometimes willing to move a case forward more efficiently where the parties are genuinely cooperative, have already exchanged relevant disclosure, and can show the case conference's usual purposes have effectively already been accomplished another way. Where that groundwork hasn't actually been done, a court is less likely to agree to skip ahead, since doing so could mean going into a settlement conference without the basic information needed to make it productive. Anyone hoping to streamline their case this way should raise it with the court, ideally through their lawyer, explaining specifically why the usual step isn't needed.