FFCM and Child Support Registrar (Child support second review)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered a dispute between FFCM (the Father) and the Child Support Registrar concerning the percentage of care for two children. The core of the disagreement involved whether existing care percentage determinations should be revoked and, if so, what new percentages should apply and from what date. The Father had notified the Child Support Agency of changes in care arrangements, initially claiming an increase in his care from 0% to 43% for one child and 15% for the other from October 2020. Subsequent notifications from the Father indicated further changes, including a verbally agreed parenting plan, leading to conflicting claims about the actual care percentages and their commencement dates.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether the existing care percentage determinations should be revoked under sections 54F, 54G, or 54H of the Assessment Act. If revocation was warranted, the Tribunal needed to attribute new percentages of care to the Father and Mother under sections 49 and/or 50 of the Act, and establish the date from which these new percentages should apply. The central legal issue was to resolve the conflicting evidence and contentions presented by the Father and Mother regarding the actual care arrangements for the children from October 2020 onwards.

The Tribunal found that the care arrangements for the children had indeed changed from the existing determinations, with effect from 16 October 2020. This finding was based on the evidence, including the Mother's acceptance in a prior proceeding that the Father had 44% care of one child and 19% care of the other from that date. The Tribunal applied the principle that a "care period" generally lasts for 12 months from the commencement or change of actual care. Considering the Father's notifications of changes in care from both 16 October 2020 and 27 April 2021, the Tribunal determined that the relevant care period ran from 16 October 2020 to 15 October 2021.

Consequently, the Tribunal ordered that the revocation of the care percentage determinations would take effect for the Father from 9 May 2021, pursuant to subsection 54F(b)(i) of the Assessment Act, and for the Mother from 15 October 2020, pursuant to subsection 54F(b)(ii) of the Assessment Act. The Tribunal affirmed the decision under review in accordance with subsection 43(1)(a) of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975.