Brooker and Valmary (Child support)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered the dispute between Brooker and Valmary concerning the percentage of care for their child. The applicant, Brooker, sought to have the existing percentage of care determinations revoked and new determinations made, arguing there had been a change to the likely pattern of care.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the circumstances warranted a revocation of the existing percentage of care determinations and the making of new ones, based on a change in the likely pattern of care. This required the Tribunal to assess the evidence presented regarding the actual and anticipated care arrangements for the child.

The Tribunal affirmed the decision under review, finding that the evidence did not establish a sufficient change in the likely pattern of care to justify revoking the existing determinations. The Tribunal applied the principles governing the assessment of percentage of care, which require a demonstrable and likely shift in the care arrangements to warrant a variation. The Tribunal's reasoning focused on the factual matrix presented, concluding that the established pattern of care remained substantially the same.