Lasker and Jagerman (Child support)

This matter concerned an appeal by the applicant, Lasker, against a decision of the Child Support Registrar regarding the child support assessment for their child. The dispute centred on the Registrar's decision to proceed with an administrative assessment based on an "estimate reconciliation" that the applicant contended was incorrect. The appeal was heard by Senior Member R Ellis.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the Registrar had erred in undertaking an estimate reconciliation and in the manner in which that reconciliation was conducted. Specifically, the Tribunal was required to determine if the Registrar had sufficient grounds to proceed with an estimate reconciliation and, if so, whether the resulting assessment was valid or if it should be set aside due to procedural or substantive error in the reconciliation process.

Senior Member R Ellis found that the Registrar had not properly undertaken the estimate reconciliation as required by the relevant legislation. The Tribunal reasoned that the Registrar's approach did not adequately address the discrepancies in the income estimates provided by the parties, nor did it demonstrate a proper consideration of the evidence available. Consequently, the Tribunal concluded that the decision to proceed with the administrative assessment based on the flawed reconciliation was erroneous. The Tribunal ordered that the decision be set aside and remitted to the Registrar with a direction to properly reconcile the estimates of income.