Pulaski and Pulaski (Child support)

Mr Pulaski sought review from the Administrative Appeals Tribunal of decisions made by the Child Support Registrar concerning the reconciliation of his income estimates for the 2017 and 2018 financial years. The dispute arose because the Registrar included payments of disability support pension in Mr Pulaski's assessed taxable income for these periods, which Mr Pulaski claimed he never received, asserting that his sole income was from employment.

The tribunal was required to determine whether the Child Support Registrar's assessment of Mr Pulaski's total taxable incomes for the 2017 and 2018 financial years, and the subsequent reconciliation of his income estimates against these amounts, were correct. This involved considering whether the disability support pension payments, attributed to Mr Pulaski by Centrelink, were genuinely received by him or were the result of identity fraud.

The tribunal found that the Registrar had erred in including the disability support pension payments in Mr Pulaski's adjusted taxable incomes. This conclusion was based on compelling evidence that Mr Pulaski did not receive these payments. This evidence included that the payments were made to a person residing in a different suburb than Mr Pulaski, to a bank account he did not hold, and that Mr Pulaski had repeatedly attempted to resolve this issue with Centrelink over several years. Furthermore, there was evidence of an ongoing fraud investigation and possible identity theft concerning these payments. The tribunal found Mr Pulaski to be a credible witness, and his persistent efforts to correct the record supported his claim.

Consequently, the tribunal set aside the Registrar's decisions and remitted the matters back to the Child Support Registrar for reconsideration. The direction was that Mr Pulaski's income estimates for the 2017 and 2018 financial years should be reconciled against his taxable incomes as provided by the Australian Taxation Office, without the inclusion of any disability support pension payments.