RKCM and Child Support Registrar (Child support second review)

This matter concerned an application by RKCM for a review of a decision by the Social Security Appeals Tribunal (SSAT) regarding the appropriate percentage of care for his two children. The Child Support Registrar was the formal respondent, and XBVZ, the mother of the children, was joined as an interested party. The core dispute revolved around whether RKCM's care percentage should be 35% or 34%, a distinction RKCM argued had significant financial consequences.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was to determine the correct percentage of care for the children between RKCM and XBVZ, specifically whether the SSAT's finding of 66% care for XBVZ and 34% for RKCM was the preferable outcome based on the evidence. This involved an analysis of the actual care arrangements over the calendar years 2012, 2013, and 2014, and the application of section 54D of the Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988 concerning rounding of percentages.

The Tribunal considered the actual care provided by each parent during the relevant years. It found that in 2012, RKCM's care was 34.97%, which, by operation of section 54D, must be rounded down to 34%, resulting in XBVZ having 65.03% or 66% care. In 2013, RKCM's care was 33.69%, rounding down to 33%, and in 2014, it was 34.52%, rounding down to 34%. The Tribunal concluded that RKCM's care had not exceeded 34% in any of these years. While acknowledging some disagreement with aspects of the SSAT's reasoning, the Tribunal found the SSAT's decision to be the preferable one on the evidence presented.

Accordingly, the Tribunal affirmed the SSAT's decision, upholding the care percentages of 66% for XBVZ and 34% for RKCM.