McCarthy and Werncik (Child support)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the dispute between McCarthy and Werncik concerning the percentage of care for a child. The applicant, McCarthy, sought review of a decision made by the Registrar of Child Support regarding the child support assessment.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether there had been a change to the existing pattern of care for the child, which would necessitate a reassessment of the percentage of care. Specifically, the Tribunal had to determine if the changes to the care arrangements were substantial enough to warrant altering the established percentage of care for the purposes of child support.

The Tribunal affirmed the decision under review. It found that while there had been some adjustments to the care arrangements, these did not constitute a significant or substantial change to the *likely* pattern of care as contemplated by the relevant legislation. The Tribunal applied the principles of assessing the ongoing and probable future care arrangements, concluding that the existing pattern of care remained the operative one for the child support assessment.