Falconer and Child Support Registrar and Anor

In this matter before Judge Scarlett, the appellant sought leave to appeal from a decision of the Social Security Appeals Tribunal. The dispute concerned the refusal to credit prescribed non-agency payments, specifically school fees, against a payer's child support liability. The Child Support Registrar, as the first respondent, conceded that the Tribunal's decision contained an error of law.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the Social Security Appeals Tribunal had correctly interpreted and applied section 71D of the *Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988*. Specifically, the court needed to determine if the Tribunal erred in its construction of this section when refusing to credit the prescribed non-agency payments. A related issue arose from an "Application in a Case" filed by the appellant, which the court considered to be without jurisdiction.

The court's reasoning was largely informed by the concession made by the Child Support Registrar. The Registrar acknowledged that the Tribunal had made an error of law by incorrectly interpreting section 71D. The Registrar's position was that the heading of section 71D should have been considered, indicating that the discretion to credit payments under that section applied only in "special circumstances." The Tribunal's failure to take this into account led to the error.

Consequently, the court allowed the appeal, set aside the decision of the Social Security Appeals Tribunal, and remitted the matter to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for redetermination according to law. The appellant was granted leave to appeal out of time. The separate "Application in a Case" filed by the appellant was dismissed as incompetent due to a lack of jurisdiction.