Coharane and Amachree (Child support) - [2024] AATA 4127

Coharane and Amachree (Child support) [2024] AATA 4127 (20 September 2024)

DIVISION:Social Services & Child Support Division
REVIEW NUMBER:  2024/PC027311
APPLICANT:  Ms Coharane
OTHER PARTIES:  Child Support Registrar
Mr Amachree

TRIBUNAL:Senior Member R Ellis
DECISION DATE: 20 September 2024
DECISION:

The Tribunal sets aside the decision under review and, in substitution, decides that:

for the period from 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024 the adjusted taxable income of Mr Amachree is varied to $101,520; and
for the period from 1 July 2024 to 31 March 2025 the adjusted taxable income of Mr Amachree is varied to $146,210.

CATCHWORDS
CHILD SUPPORT – change of assessment – a ground for departure established – mental health – whether it is otherwise proper to make a particular departure determination – the determination is otherwise proper – income property and financial resources – father’s adjusted taxable income is varied – decision under review set aside and substituted

Names used in all published decisions are pseudonyms. Any references appearing in square brackets indicate that information has been omitted from this decision and replaced with generic information so as not to identify involved individuals as required by subsections 16(2AB)-16(2AC) of theChild Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988.

REASONS FOR DECISION

BACKGROUND

This review is about whether or not there should be a departure from the administrative assessment of child support.
Ms Coharane and Mr Amachree are the parents of [Child 1] (born August 2022). There has been a child support assessment in place since 1 March 2023 and Mr Amachree is currently the liable parent under the assessment.
The following administrative assessments of child support are under consideration:
·     for the period from 14 June 2023 to 30 June 2023 Mr Amachree is assessed to pay an annual rate of $21,626 based on 2021-22 adjusted taxable income of $188,096 for Mr Amachree and an estimated 2022-23 adjusted taxable income for Ms Coharane of $32,821;
·     for the period from 1 July 2023 to 26 July 2023 Mr Amachree is assessed to pay an annual rate of $1,632 based on an estimated 2023-24 adjusted taxable income of $0 for Mr Amachree and an estimated 2023-24 adjusted taxable income for Ms Coharane of $22,561; and
·     for the period from 27 July 2023 to 30 June 2024 Mr Amachree is assessed to pay an annual rate of $8,079 based on an estimated 2023-24 adjusted taxable income of $78,860 for Mr Amachree and an estimated 2023-24 adjusted taxable income for Ms Coharane of $22,561.
On 14 June 2023 Ms Coharane applied to Services Australia – Child Support (Child Support) for a change to the assessment on the basis of a parent’s income, property and financial resources or earning capacity (the grounds commonly known as Reasons 8A and 8B).
On 13 September 2023 Child Support made the decision to change the assessment so that for the period from 17 July 2023 to 31 October 2024 the adjusted taxable income of Mr Amachree is set at $172,375 (the original decision).

Grounds of appeal

[14] The appellant contends that the primary judge erred in finding that the respondent had discharged the onus of establishing the matters required under the relevant provision.

[15] It was submitted that his Honour failed to give adequate weight to the evidence of the second witness, and that the findings of fact were not reasonably open on the material before the Court.

[16] The respondent, for its part, submits that no error is disclosed, and that the conclusions reached were well within the range of outcomes available to the primary judge.

Consideration

[17] It is convenient to deal first with the question of construction, as the resolution of that issue informs the remaining grounds advanced by the appellant.

[18] For the reasons that follow, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed in part and the matter remitted for further determination.

Continue reading Coharane and Amachree (Child support)

Details

AGLC: Coharane and Amachree (Child support) [2024] AATA 4127
Case: [2024] AATA 4127
Decision Date: 20 September 2024

CaseChat Overview and Summary

This matter concerned an application for a child support assessment to be changed, brought by the father, Mr Coharane, against the mother, Ms Amachree. The dispute centred on whether the father's adjusted taxable income should be varied for the purposes of calculating child support. The decision was made by Senior Member R Ellis of the relevant tribunal.

The primary legal issue before the tribunal was whether a ground for departure from the standard child support assessment had been established, specifically relating to the father's mental health. If a ground for departure was established, the tribunal then had to determine whether it was otherwise proper to make a particular departure determination, considering the father's income, property, and financial resources.

Senior Member Ellis found that the father had established a ground for departure due to his mental health condition, which impacted his capacity to earn income. The tribunal considered the father's income, property, and financial resources and concluded that it was otherwise proper to make a departure determination. Consequently, the father's adjusted taxable income was varied.

The decision under review was set aside and substituted with a new assessment reflecting the varied adjusted taxable income.

Orders