Florey and Varley (Child support)

The Full Court of the Family Court of Australia considered an appeal by Florey against a decision of the Child Support Registrar concerning the child support payable for their child. The dispute centred on whether the costs of the child's education and the child's special needs significantly affected the costs incurred by the resident parent, Varley, thereby justifying a departure from the standard child support assessment.

The primary legal issues before the Full Court were whether the Registrar erred in finding that the costs of the child's education did not significantly affect the costs incurred by the resident parent, and whether the Registrar erred in finding that the child's special needs did not significantly affect the costs incurred by the resident parent. These findings were crucial to determining whether the grounds for a departure from the child support assessment were established under the *Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988* (Cth).

The Full Court reasoned that the Registrar had applied an incorrect test when considering the impact of the child's education costs. The Court held that the Registrar should have considered whether the costs of education were *necessary* and *reasonable* in the circumstances, rather than solely focusing on whether they *significantly affected* the resident parent's overall costs. Regarding the special needs, the Court found that the Registrar had correctly applied the relevant test and that the evidence did not establish that these needs significantly affected the costs incurred by the resident parent. Consequently, the Full Court set aside the Registrar's decision regarding the education costs and substituted its own finding that this ground was established, while upholding the Registrar's finding in relation to special needs.