Muarken and Ayache (Child support)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered an application by Muarken (the applicant) to set aside a child support assessment and substitute a departure determination. The dispute concerned the financial resources available to Ayache (the respondent) and the costs associated with maintaining the subject children, with the applicant arguing that these factors constituted special circumstances justifying a departure from the standard assessment.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant had established "special circumstances" under section 117 of the *Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988* (Cth) that warranted a departure from the child support assessment. This required the Tribunal to consider the financial resources of both parties and the actual costs of maintaining the children.

Member S Irvine found that the applicant had not discharged the onus of proving special circumstances. The Tribunal's reasoning focused on the applicant's failure to demonstrate that the respondent possessed financial resources beyond those already considered in the assessment, or that the costs of maintaining the children were so exceptional as to fall outside the scope of the standard assessment. The Tribunal applied the principles governing departure applications, emphasising the need for compelling evidence of circumstances that are out of the ordinary.

The Tribunal affirmed the original child support assessment and dismissed the applicant's application to set aside the assessment and substitute a departure determination.