ORZEL & ORZEL

The District Court of [European location omitted] was asked to consider an application to vary an existing child maintenance order. The applicant father sought to have the annual rate of child maintenance payable to the respondent mother for their child set at NIL.

The central legal issue before the court was whether the annual rate of child maintenance should be reduced to NIL, specifically when the applicant father was in receipt of a Centrelink benefit, including the New Enterprise Incentive Scheme.

Judge Scarlett reasoned that the existing order should be varied to reflect the father's financial circumstances when receiving certain Centrelink benefits. The court ordered that for any period the applicant father is in receipt of a Centrelink benefit, including income-tested pensions or benefits and the New Enterprise Incentive Scheme, the annual rate of child maintenance payable to the respondent mother for the child is to be NIL. This variation was to have effect from the original commencement date of the liability, 18 December 2009.