Falvey and Bourke (Child support)

This matter concerned an application by the respondent father, Mr. Bourke, to vary a child support assessment made under the *Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988* (Cth) and the *Child Support (Assessment) Act 1988* (Cth). The applicant mother, Ms. Falvey, sought to have the existing assessment maintained. The dispute centred on the father's income, specifically whether certain payments received by him constituted assessable income for child support purposes. The proceedings were heard in the Federal Circuit Court of Australia before Registrar Ellis SM.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether payments received by the respondent from his employer, described as "retention bonuses" and "long service leave entitlements," should be included as part of his adjusted taxable income for the purposes of calculating his child support liability. The court was required to interpret the relevant provisions of the *Child Support (Assessment) Act 1988* (Cth) concerning the definition of income and the circumstances under which such payments would be considered assessable.

Registrar Ellis SM reasoned that the "retention bonuses" were a form of remuneration for services rendered and were therefore income. The court applied the principle that payments received by an employee in return for their employment are generally considered assessable income unless specifically excluded by the legislation. Regarding the long service leave entitlements, the court found that these were also a form of accrued entitlement arising from employment and should be included in assessable income. The court noted that the legislation's broad definition of income was intended to capture all forms of financial resources available to a parent.

The court ordered that the child support assessment be varied to include the retention bonuses and long service leave entitlements as part of the respondent's adjusted taxable income.