Hackett and Baxter (Child support)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the dispute between Hackett and Baxter concerning the percentage of care for their child. The applicants sought to revoke existing percentage of care determinations and have new determinations made.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether there had been a change to the likely pattern of care for the child, and whether occasional departures from an established pattern of care were sufficient to warrant a revocation of existing determinations and the making of new ones.

The Tribunal affirmed the decision under review, finding that while there had been occasional departures from the established pattern of care, these did not constitute a significant change to the *likely* pattern of care. The legal principle applied was that minor or infrequent deviations from a care arrangement do not necessarily alter the fundamental or likely future pattern of care, which is the basis for percentage of care determinations.