Annese and Watchorn (Child support)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the dispute between Annese and Watchorn concerning the particulars of a child support administrative assessment. The core of the disagreement related to whether certain post-separation costs should be excluded from the adjusted taxable income for the last relevant year when calculating child support obligations.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether an amount received by one of the parties for cashing out leave, which occurred after the parties separated, should be excluded from their adjusted taxable income for the purposes of the child support assessment. This involved interpreting the relevant provisions of the *Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988* (Cth) and associated regulations concerning the calculation of adjusted taxable income.

The Tribunal reasoned that the cashing out of leave was not an event that occurred in the ordinary course of employment after the separation of the parties. Applying the principles for calculating adjusted taxable income under the Act, the Tribunal concluded that this amount should be excluded. Consequently, the Tribunal set aside the original decision under review and substituted its own decision.