HUGHES & HUGHES

In the matter of Hughes & Hughes, the father sought to set aside a child support agreement and to depart from administrative child support assessments. The proceedings were heard by Cronin J.

The court was required to determine whether the father had established grounds to set aside the child support agreement under section 136 of the *Child Support (Assessment) Act 1989* (Cth), and whether it was just and equitable to depart from the administrative assessments, considering the father's financial circumstances and the existence of any special circumstances.

Regarding the application to set aside the child support agreement, the court found that the father's stated reason of lacking funds to pay was not supported by evidence that would satisfy the requirements of section 136 of the Act, leading to the dismissal of this aspect of the application. In relation to the departure from administrative assessments, the father argued that the assessments did not accurately reflect his income due to dividends provided to discharge Division 7A tax distributions. While a decision of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal concerning a discrete period was presented, the court was not satisfied that the evidence comprehensively demonstrated the financial resources and property mentioned in that judgment. Consequently, the court lacked sufficient evidence to make a finding that it was just and equitable to depart from the administrative assessment, nor were there any special circumstances established.

The court ordered that the initiating application (as amended) filed on 14 September 2018 be dismissed. Additionally, the application in a case filed on 15 August 2018 and the respondent’s amended response filed on 17 August 2018 were struck out.