Peters and Child Support Registrar (Child support)

This matter concerned an application by Mr Peters for review of a decision by the Child Support Registrar to refuse to issue a departure authorisation certificate (DAC). Mr Peters sought the DAC to enable him to travel overseas to visit his sister, whose health had stabilised, and for whom he accepted there was no immediate urgency for him to see.

The primary legal issue before Deputy Britten-Jones P was whether the Registrar's refusal to issue a DAC was the correct or preferable decision, specifically considering whether humanitarian grounds justified its issuance. The court was required to assess the significance of the emotional hardship Mr Peters claimed he would suffer from not being able to visit his sister.

In reaching his decision, Deputy Britten-Jones P considered Mr Peters' ongoing failure to pay child maintenance over many years, noting that the last payment was made in 1995, aside from compulsory contributions from 2014. His Honour found that Mr Peters' inability to travel was a consequence of his own conduct and that the emotional hardship he claimed was not significant, particularly as his sister's health had stabilised and there was no immediate urgency for his visit. The court affirmed the object of the *Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988* (Cth) that maintenance payments be made regularly and in a timely manner, a principle Mr Peters had failed to uphold. Consequently, his Honour was not satisfied that humanitarian grounds justified the issuance of a DAC.

The application for review was dismissed, and the decision of the delegate of the respondent made on 14 June 2019 to refuse to issue a departure authorisation certificate was affirmed.