Handley and Mummery (Child support)

The Full Court of the Family Court of Australia considered an appeal by the father, Mr Handley, against orders made by a Registrar concerning child support payable to the mother, Ms Mummery. The dispute centred on the assessment of the father's child support liability, specifically the treatment of certain payments made by the father to the mother.

The primary legal issue before the Full Court was whether the Registrar erred in law by failing to treat certain payments made by the father to the mother as lump sum child support payments, thereby reducing the father's assessed child support liability. The father contended that these payments, which were made pursuant to a consent order in separate family law proceedings, were intended to be in full and final satisfaction of all child support obligations.

The Full Court reasoned that the payments in question were made pursuant to a consent order that did not explicitly state they were in lieu of child support. In the absence of such clear language, the Court held that the payments could not be characterised as lump sum child support payments for the purposes of the *Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988* (Cth). The Court applied the principle that clear and unambiguous language is required to demonstrate an intention to discharge future child support obligations through lump sum payments. Consequently, the Registrar had correctly treated the payments as ordinary income of the mother and not as a reduction of the father's child support debt.

The appeal was dismissed, and the orders of the Registrar were affirmed.