DPND and Child Support Registrar (Child support second review)

This matter concerned a review by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) of a child support assessment. The applicant, DPND, sought to challenge decisions regarding the percentage of care he had for his child and the effective date of any change in that care. The dispute arose from differing interpretations of care arrangements following a parenting plan agreed to by the parties.

The primary legal issues before the Tribunal were to determine the actual percentage of care each party had for the child and, crucially, to establish the date from which any change in care should take effect for the purposes of child support assessment. This involved considering the evidence presented by both parties, including detailed care records and correspondence, against the backdrop of the Child Support (Assessment) Act 1989 and relevant policy guidelines.

The Tribunal considered the evidence, including the applicant's detailed spreadsheet of care arrangements and the other party's less formal records. It found that while the applicant had provided additional care beyond the agreed parenting plan on several occasions, this extra care was ad hoc and did not constitute a consistent change in the pattern of care. Therefore, the Tribunal concluded that the agreed parenting plan, which stipulated 11 nights of care every 28 days for the applicant (equating to approximately 39-40 per cent care), was being adhered to. The Tribunal affirmed the date of effect for the revised care percentage as 9 July 2018.