Eastwood and Orton (Child support)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered a child support dispute between Eastwood and Orton. The applicant, Eastwood, sought to object to a child support assessment, but the objection was lodged out of time. The core of the dispute concerned whether there had been a change in the pattern of care for the child, which would have allowed for a reassessment of child support payments, and whether special circumstances existed that prevented the applicant from lodging their objection within the prescribed timeframe.

The Tribunal was required to determine two primary legal issues. Firstly, whether the applicant had established a change in the pattern of care that would warrant a departure from the existing child support assessment. Secondly, and crucially, the Tribunal had to consider whether any special circumstances existed that excused the applicant's failure to lodge their objection within the statutory time limit.

In reaching its decision, the Tribunal affirmed the original decision that there had not been a sufficient change in the pattern of care to justify a reassessment. Furthermore, the Tribunal found that no special circumstances were present that would excuse the late lodgement of the objection. The Tribunal applied the principles governing objections to child support assessments, including the requirements for demonstrating a change in care and the criteria for establishing special circumstances that permit out-of-time objections. The Tribunal concluded that the applicant had not met the threshold for either of these considerations.