Sabo and Sabo (Child support)

The matter of *Sabo and Sabo (Child support)* concerned an appeal by the father, Mr Sabo, against a decision of the Child Support Registrar concerning the assessment of child support. The dispute centred on the father's income for the purposes of child support assessment, specifically whether certain payments received by him should be included as income.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the Child Support Registrar had erred in including payments received by Mr Sabo from his employer, described as "retention bonuses" and "long service leave entitlements", as part of his adjusted taxable income for the purposes of calculating his child support liability. The court was required to determine the correct interpretation of the *Child Support (Assessment) Act 1989* (Cth) regarding the inclusion of such payments in assessable income.

The court considered the nature of the payments and the relevant provisions of the *Child Support (Assessment) Act 1989* (Cth). It was held that retention bonuses, being payments made to retain an employee's services, were properly characterised as income. Similarly, long service leave entitlements, when paid out, were also considered to be income. The court applied the principle that payments received by a parent in the nature of income, even if described by different terms, are generally to be included in their adjusted taxable income for child support assessment purposes unless specifically excluded by the Act. The Registrar's decision to include these payments was therefore upheld.