Gager and Gager (Child support)

In *Gager and Gager (Child support)*, Deputy President Walsh considered an appeal from a decision of the Child Support Registrar concerning the assessment of child support. The appeal concerned the assessment of child support for the parties' two children, aged 10 and 13. The primary dispute between the parties related to the father's income, specifically whether certain payments received by the father constituted assessable income for child support purposes.

The central legal issue before the Deputy President was whether payments received by the father from his employer, described as "retention bonuses" and "long-service leave payments," should be included in his adjusted taxable income for the purposes of calculating child support. The father contended that these payments were not regular or consistent and therefore should not be included, while the mother argued they were part of his income and should be assessed.

Deputy President Walsh applied the principles established in the *Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988* (Cth) and relevant case law concerning the definition of income for child support purposes. The Deputy President noted that the Act defines income broadly and that the intention of the legislation is to ensure that child support assessments reflect a parent's capacity to pay. In relation to the retention bonuses, the Deputy President found that these were paid to retain the father's employment and were therefore directly related to his employment and should be included. Regarding the long-service leave payments, the Deputy President determined that while these were a lump sum payment, they represented accrued entitlements and were therefore also assessable income. The Deputy President emphasised that the focus is on the nature of the payment and its connection to the parent's earning capacity.

The appeal was allowed, and the matter was remitted to the Child Support Registrar to recalculate the child support assessment based on the adjusted taxable income including the retention bonuses and long-service leave payments.