Gofton and Colborn (Child support)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered an application by Gofton and Colborn concerning the cessation of employer withholding for child support payments. The dispute centred on whether the initial decision to refuse the application for employer withholding to cease should have been affirmed.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was to determine whether the decision-maker had erred in refusing the application to cease employer withholding. This required the Tribunal to assess the evidence and arguments presented by the parties against the relevant legislative framework governing child support collection methods.

The Tribunal affirmed the original decision, finding that the applicant had not discharged the onus of demonstrating that the continued use of employer withholding was no longer appropriate. The Tribunal applied the principles of the *Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988*, which requires a compelling case to be made for the cessation of a collection method that has been established. The Tribunal was not satisfied that the circumstances warranted a departure from the existing arrangement.