Boyett and Fowler (Child support)

This matter concerned an appeal by the applicant, Mr Boyett, against a decision of the Child Support Registrar regarding child support arrears. The dispute centred on whether certain amounts previously paid by Mr Boyett were to be considered as satisfying his child support obligations, or if they constituted voluntary payments that did not reduce his accrued arrears. The appeal was heard by Judicial Registrar Leonard M.

The primary legal issue before the court was to determine the characterisation of payments made by Mr Boyett. Specifically, the court had to decide whether these payments were made in satisfaction of his child support liability, thereby reducing any outstanding arrears, or if they were voluntary contributions that did not discharge his legal obligations under the child support scheme. This involved an interpretation of the relevant provisions of the *Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988* (Cth) and the *Child Support (Assessment) Act 1989* (Cth) concerning the payment and crediting of child support.

Judicial Registrar Leonard M reasoned that the payments in question were not made pursuant to any specific child support assessment or order that was in force at the time. Consequently, they could not be treated as payments made in discharge of Mr Boyett's child support liability. The Registrar applied the principle that for a payment to be credited against child support arrears, it must be demonstrably made with the intention of satisfying a legal obligation to pay child support. As no such intention or legal obligation was established for the payments made, they were correctly characterised as voluntary and did not reduce the arrears assessed by the Registrar. The appeal was therefore dismissed, and the decision of the Child Support Registrar was affirmed.