Faber and Faber (Child support)

The matter of *Faber and Faber (Child support)* concerned an application to review a departure determination made by the Child Support Registrar. The applicant, Faber, sought to set aside the Registrar's decision, which had assessed his child support liability based on income derived from a family trust and benefits received from his business. The court was therefore tasked with determining whether the Registrar's departure determination was justified.

The central legal issue before the court was whether the Registrar had erred in her assessment of Faber's income and financial resources. Specifically, the court had to consider whether the income and benefits Faber derived from his business and the family trust constituted relevant financial resources that should be taken into account when calculating his child support liability, and if so, whether the Registrar's method of calculation was appropriate.

In reaching its decision, the court examined the nature of the benefits Faber received from his business and the income distributed from the family trust. The court applied the principles of the *Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988*, focusing on the definition of income and financial resources for the purposes of child support assessments. The court found that the Registrar had correctly identified these as relevant financial resources and had made a reasonable departure determination based on the available evidence. Consequently, the court upheld the Registrar's decision.