Mourtada and Child Support Registrar (Child support)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered the dispute between Mourtada and the Child Support Registrar concerning the percentage of care arrangements for a child. The applicant, Mourtada, sought to challenge a decision made by the Registrar regarding these care percentages.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the Registrar had erred in refusing to revoke existing care determinations and make new ones, despite a short period where court orders regarding care were not complied with. This involved determining the appropriate application of the *Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988* (Cth) in circumstances of temporary non-compliance with court-ordered care arrangements.

The Tribunal found that the Registrar's decision was affected by error. It reasoned that the short duration of the non-compliance with the court orders did not, in itself, warrant a refusal to consider revoking the existing care determinations. The Tribunal applied the principles that care determinations should reflect the actual care arrangements, and that a temporary deviation from court orders, particularly when it was not a permanent change in the child's living arrangements, should not automatically preclude a review of the care percentages. The Tribunal concluded that the Registrar should have undertaken a fresh assessment of the care arrangements.

Consequently, the Tribunal set aside the decision under review and substituted it with a new decision, remitting the matter to the Child Support Registrar for reconsideration and the making of new care determinations in accordance with the Tribunal's findings.