Orlebar and Orlebar (Child support)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an appeal by the father, Mr Orlebar, against a child support estimate of income made by the Registrar of the Child Support Agency. The dispute concerned the Registrar's decision to accept an estimate of the father's income for the purposes of calculating child support payable for the parties' child.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether the Registrar had erred in accepting the estimate of the father's income, and if so, whether the estimate should have been refused. The central question was whether the information available to the Registrar at the time of the assessment provided a sufficient basis for making an estimate of the father's income, or if further steps should have been taken to obtain more precise income details.

The Tribunal found that the Registrar had sufficient information to make a reasonable estimate of the father's income. The father had failed to provide requested financial information, and the Registrar had relied on available evidence, including information from the Australian Taxation Office. The Tribunal applied the principles of administrative decision-making, requiring the Registrar to make a decision based on the best available information when a party fails to cooperate. The Tribunal concluded that the Registrar's decision to accept the estimate was not unreasonable or unjust.

The Tribunal set aside the Registrar's decision and substituted its own decision, accepting the estimate of the father's income.