Amara and Amara (Child support)

This matter concerned an appeal to the Federal Circuit Court of Australia regarding a decision of the Child Support Registrar. The appellant, the mother, sought to have the Registrar's decision reviewed, which had affirmed a previous assessment of the percentage of care for the parties' child. The dispute centred on whether there had been a change in the likely pattern of care for the child since the last assessment.

The primary legal issue before the Court was whether the Registrar had erred in finding that there was no change in the likely pattern of care for the child. This required the Court to consider the evidence presented regarding the care arrangements for the child and to determine if those arrangements met the threshold for a change in the assessment of care percentages under the *Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988*.

The Court affirmed the Registrar's decision, finding that the evidence did not demonstrate a sufficient change in the likely pattern of care to warrant a reassessment. The Court applied the principles that a change in the pattern of care must be likely to continue for a period of at least 28 days, and that the onus is on the party seeking the change to establish it. In this instance, the evidence presented by the mother did not meet this evidentiary burden.