Hirst v Dalton

This matter concerned an appeal by Mr Hirst (the applicant) against a decision of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) regarding a child support assessment. Ms Dalton was the first respondent, and the Child Support Registrar was the second respondent. The applicant had sought a departure from an administrative assessment of child support, and the AAT had found one ground for departure established, reducing the applicant's adjusted taxable income by $95,000 for a specified period. The applicant appealed this decision to the court on questions of law.

The court was required to determine several legal issues, including the validity of the Assessment Act if certain contentions of the first respondent were accepted, and the appropriate costs order given the parties' respective successes and failures in the proceedings. The applicant had also raised a constitutional issue regarding the validity of the Assessment Act, which necessitated notification to the Commonwealth and State Attorneys-General.

During the proceedings, the applicant and the first respondent reached an agreement in concurrent family law proceedings, which included a Binding Child Support Agreement. This agreement, upon registration, discharged any unpaid child support and reduced the applicant's annual child support liability to zero. The court noted that this agreement substantially rendered moot all questions arising in the appeal proceedings. The court considered that both parties had reasonable positions regarding costs, with each experiencing some success and some lack of success.

Consequently, the court ordered that the applicant pay the costs of the second respondent in the assessed sum of $4,104.00 within 30 days. Otherwise, the matter was removed from the active pending cases list.