Grenville and Cooksey (Child support)

This matter concerned an appeal by the father, Mr. Grenville, against a decision of the Child Support Registrar concerning the assessment of child support payable for his two children. The mother, Ms. Cooksey, was the respondent. The dispute centred on the father's income, specifically whether certain payments received by him should be included as assessable income for child support purposes.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the Child Support Registrar had erred in including payments received by the father from his employer, described as "redundancy payments" and "long service leave payments," as part of his assessable income under the *Child Support (Assessment) Act 1989* (Cth). The father contended that these payments were not regular or periodic income and therefore should not be included in the child support assessment.

The court considered the definition of "income" under the Act, which includes earnings and any other amount received in respect of the employment of the individual. It was held that the payments, although described as redundancy and long service leave, were nonetheless amounts received by the father in respect of his employment. The court reasoned that the nature of the payment, rather than its description, was determinative. As these payments were received by the father in connection with his past or present employment, they fell within the broad definition of income for child support purposes. The appeal was therefore dismissed.