Hachey and Hachey (Child support)

This matter concerned an appeal by the Hacheys against a decision of the Child Support Registrar regarding an administrative assessment of child support. The Hacheys sought to challenge the Registrar's acceptance of an estimate of the payee's income for the purposes of the assessment.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the Child Support Registrar had erred in accepting the payee's estimated income when making the administrative assessment, and consequently, whether the estimate should have been refused.

The court considered the provisions of the *Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988* (Cth) and relevant case law concerning the Registrar's discretion to accept an estimate of income. The court found that the Registrar had not been provided with sufficient information to justify refusing the estimate, and that the estimate was reasonable in the circumstances. Therefore, the court determined that the Registrar's decision to accept the estimate was not erroneous. The court set aside the original decision and substituted its own decision, upholding the Registrar's assessment based on the estimated income.