Groves and Child Support Registrar (Child support)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered the dispute between Groves and the Child Support Registrar concerning the percentage of care arrangements for a child. The Registrar had made new determinations regarding the percentage of care, revoking existing ones. Groves sought a review of these decisions.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether there had been a change to the likely pattern of care for the child and, consequently, whether an interim period should apply to the new percentage of care determinations. The core of the dispute lay in assessing the factual circumstances that would justify altering the established care arrangements.

The Tribunal affirmed the Registrar's decision, finding that the evidence did not establish a sufficient change in the likely pattern of care to warrant the application of an interim period or the revocation of the existing percentage of care determinations. The legal principle applied was that a change in the likely pattern of care must be demonstrated to justify altering established child support arrangements. The Tribunal's reasoning focused on the factual evidence presented regarding the child's living arrangements and the stability of those arrangements.