Murnan and Murnan (Child support)

This matter concerned an appeal by the father, Mr. Murnan, against a decision of the Child Support Registrar regarding the assessment of child support payable for the parties' two children. The mother, Ms. Murnan, sought to have the child support assessment registered and enforced. The dispute centred on the father's income, specifically whether certain payments received by him should be included as assessable income for child support purposes. The appeal was heard by P Jensen M in the Federal Circuit Court of Australia.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether payments received by the father from his employer, described as "retention bonuses" and "long-service leave entitlements," constituted relevant income for the purposes of the *Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988* (Cth) and the *Child Support Assessment Act 1989* (Cth). The court was required to determine the nature of these payments and whether they fell within the definition of "income" as defined by the relevant legislation for child support assessment.

P Jensen M reasoned that the retention bonuses were paid to the father to ensure his continued employment and were therefore directly related to his employment. Consequently, they were to be treated as assessable income. Similarly, the long-service leave entitlements, although accrued over time, were received by the father during the assessment period and were also considered assessable income. The court applied the principles that payments received by a parent in connection with their employment are generally included in assessable income for child support purposes, unless specifically excluded by the legislation.

The court ordered that the child support assessment be varied to include the retention bonuses and long-service leave entitlements as assessable income for the father. The appeal was therefore allowed in part, and the matter was remitted to the Child Support Registrar for redetermination of the child support assessment based on the adjusted income.