Rice and Morgan (Child support)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered the dispute between Rice and Morgan concerning the crediting of an out-of-pocket medical expense as a prescribed payment under the *Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988* (Cth). The applicant sought to have a payment made directly to the payee, which was not processed through the Child Support Agency, recognised as a valid child support payment.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the specific out-of-pocket medical expense incurred by the applicant met all the conditions required to be credited as a prescribed payment. This involved an interpretation of the relevant provisions of the *Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988* and associated regulations that govern non-agency payments.

The Tribunal found that all the necessary conditions for crediting the payment had been satisfied. It reasoned that the expense was a legitimate out-of-pocket medical cost and that the circumstances of the payment aligned with the legislative requirements for it to be recognised as a prescribed payment. Consequently, the Tribunal set aside the previous decision and substituted it with its own finding. The prescribed payment was credited accordingly.