GWNS and Child Support Registrar (Child support second review)

This matter concerned a second review of a child support assessment before a Senior Member of the Tribunal. The dispute involved the percentage of care attributed to the Applicant and the Father for their children, and the date of effect for that care determination. The Applicant sought to have the care percentage affirmed as 58% for herself and 42% for the Father, with a specific date of effect.

The legal issues before the Tribunal were whether there was an agreed pattern of care, what constituted an appropriate care period, and how the percentage of care should be determined under the Assessment Act. The Tribunal was required to consider the provisions of section 50 and section 54A of the Assessment Act, which deal with the determination of care percentages based on actual care and the number of nights a child spends with each parent. The Tribunal also had to determine the appropriate date of effect for the care determination, considering the timing of the objection.

The Tribunal found that there was an agreed and complied-with pattern of care between the Applicant and the Father, involving specific overnight arrangements during the week and on alternate weekends. Applying section 50 and section 54A of the Assessment Act, the Tribunal calculated the Father's care at six nights per fortnight, equating to 42.8% (rounded down to 42% as per section 54D), and the Applicant's care at 57.2% (rounded up to 58%). The Tribunal determined that a 12-month care period, commencing from the date the agreed arrangements were notified to the Registrar, was appropriate. Regarding the date of effect, the Tribunal declined to extend the objection period, finding that the Father's circumstances were not sufficiently special or unusual to justify such an extension, and therefore set the date of effect as the date the objection was lodged.

The Tribunal affirmed the decisions under review, concluding that the Applicant had 58% of care and the Father had 42% of care, with the date of effect being 30 July 2015.