Cliburn and Child Support Registrar (Child support)

The matter of *Cliburn and Child Support Registrar* concerned an appeal to the Magistrates Court of South Australia regarding the Registrar's refusal to grant an extension of time for the appellant to lodge an objection. The appellant sought to object to a child support assessment, but the objection was lodged outside the prescribed time limit.

The primary legal issue before the Court was whether the Registrar had erred in refusing to grant an extension of time for the appellant to lodge their objection. This required the Court to consider whether the appellant had provided a reasonable explanation for the delay and whether there were arguable grounds for the objection to succeed, balanced against any potential prejudice to the other parent.

Magistrate Martellotta found that the appellant had provided a reasonable explanation for the delay in lodging the objection. Furthermore, the Court determined that the proposed objection had arguable merit, meaning there were grounds upon which the objection might succeed. Crucially, the Court found that granting an extension of time would not cause prejudice to the other parent. Consequently, the Court concluded that an extension of time was indeed required.

The decision under review, which refused the extension of time, was set aside. The matter was remitted back to the Child Support Registrar with directions to grant the extension of time and proceed with the objection.