Houchen and Child Support Registrar (Child support)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the dispute between Houchen and the Child Support Registrar concerning the percentage of care arrangements for a child. The applicant, Houchen, sought to challenge decisions made by the Registrar to revoke existing percentage of care determinations and make new ones.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether there had been a change to the likely pattern of care for the child, which would justify the revocation and making of new percentage of care determinations. The Tribunal was also required to determine the appropriate method for calculating the percentage of care, specifically whether it was appropriate to determine care percentage by reference to hours.

The Tribunal found that the Registrar's decision to revoke the existing percentage of care determinations was not supported by sufficient evidence of a change in the likely pattern of care. Furthermore, the Tribunal held that it was not appropriate to determine the percentage of care solely by reference to hours, as this did not adequately reflect the reality of shared parenting arrangements. The Tribunal set aside the Registrar's decisions and substituted its own determinations regarding the percentage of care.