Nason and Nason (Child support)

This matter concerned an appeal to the Full Court of the Family Court of Australia regarding a child support departure determination. The applicants, Mr Nason and Mrs Nason, sought to challenge a decision of a Senior Member of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) which had refused to make a departure determination under section 117 of the *Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988* (Cth). The AAT's decision had affirmed the original decision of the Registrar of the Child Support Agency to refuse the departure application.

The central legal issue before the Full Court was whether the Senior Member of the AAT had erred in law in their assessment of the grounds for a departure determination. Specifically, the court was required to consider whether the Senior Member had correctly applied the principles governing departure determinations, particularly in relation to the income and financial resources of the parents, and whether the evidence presented supported a finding that the existing assessment of child support was unjust or inequitable.

The Full Court found that the Senior Member had made an error of law in their approach to the application. The court held that the Senior Member had failed to properly consider all the relevant evidence regarding the financial circumstances of both parties and had applied an incorrect legal test when assessing the grounds for departure. The principles applied by the Full Court emphasised the need for a holistic assessment of the parents' financial positions and the overall fairness of the child support assessment in light of those circumstances.

The Full Court set aside the decision of the Senior Member of the AAT and substituted an order that the matter be remitted to the AAT for redetermination according to law.