Ekstrand and Hartle (Child support)

This matter concerned an appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) regarding a child support administrative assessment. The applicants, Ekstrand and Hartle, sought to challenge the assessment, specifically concerning the estimated income of one of the parents.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the estimate of the parent's income used in the child support assessment was likely to be less than their actual income. This required the Tribunal to consider the evidence presented regarding the parent's earning capacity and the basis for the estimate made by the Registrar.

The Tribunal affirmed the decision under review. It reasoned that the estimate of the parent's income was not demonstrably likely to be less than their actual income, based on the information available. The Tribunal applied the principles governing administrative assessments of child support, focusing on the accuracy and reasonableness of the income estimate in accordance with the relevant legislative provisions.