Carlton and Selby (Child support)

This matter concerned an appeal by Carlton against a child support assessment made by the Registrar of the Child Support Agency. The dispute centred on whether certain post-separation costs incurred by Carlton should be taken into account when calculating his child support liability, specifically in relation to additional income that he had not earned during the last relevant year of income.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the Registrar had erred in refusing to exclude certain post-separation costs from the child support assessment. This required the Tribunal to consider the relevant provisions of the *Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988* (Cth) and the *Child Support (Assessment) Act 1989* (Cth) concerning the calculation of child support, particularly where a parent’s income has changed since the last relevant year of income.

The Tribunal affirmed the Registrar's decision, finding that the post-separation costs in question were not of a nature that permitted their exclusion from the assessment under the relevant legislative framework. The Tribunal reasoned that the legislation did not provide for the exclusion of such costs simply because they were incurred post-separation or related to income not earned in the last relevant year. The principles applied focused on the statutory requirements for calculating child support liabilities based on the information available and the specific grounds for exclusion permitted by the Act.