Green and Sampson (Child support)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application concerning the collection of ongoing child support and arrears. The dispute involved whether a payment made for travel to a tournament constituted a payment of child support. The Tribunal was asked to review a decision made under the *Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988* (Cth).

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was to determine whether a specific payment, made by one party for the travel expenses of a child to a tournament, qualified as a payment of child support under the relevant legislation. This involved an assessment of the nature of the payment and its intended purpose in relation to the child's needs and the obligations of the parties.

The Tribunal reasoned that for a payment to be considered child support, it must be made in accordance with the child support assessment or agreement in place. The payment for tournament travel, while potentially beneficial to the child, was not an amount that had been assessed or agreed upon as child support. Therefore, it could not be credited against the assessed child support liability or arrears. The Tribunal set aside the previous decision and substituted its own finding that the payment did not discharge any child support obligations.