Leckie and Burgess (Child support)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered an application by the father, Mr Leckie, for a departure determination under the *Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988* (Cth). The application concerned the child support assessment for his child with the mother, Ms Burgess. The father sought to have the assessment departed from on the basis that the child's education was not being provided in a manner that would have been expected by both parents, and that the mother's income and financial resources were not being properly considered.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether the grounds for a departure determination, as set out in section 117 of the *Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988*, were established. Specifically, the Tribunal had to consider whether the child's educational needs were not being met in a way that both parents would have expected, and whether the mother's income and financial resources were such that the current assessment was not fair.

The Tribunal found that the father had not established that the child's education was not being provided in a manner that would have been expected by both parents. It also found that the grounds for departure relating to the mother's income and financial resources were not made out. Consequently, the Tribunal concluded that the refusal to make a departure determination by the original decision-maker was not justified. The Tribunal set aside the original decision and substituted its own decision, refusing to make a departure determination.