Sadberry and Corbin (Child support)

This matter concerned an appeal to the Federal Circuit Court of Australia regarding a decision of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) concerning child support. The parties involved were Sadberry and Corbin, with the dispute revolving around the date of effect of the AAT's decision and the percentage of care attributed to each party.

The court was required to determine two primary legal issues. Firstly, whether there were "special circumstances" that would have prevented the application for review being lodged within the prescribed time limit. Secondly, the court needed to ascertain whether there had been a change to the likely pattern of care in 2017, which would impact the child support assessment.

In relation to the first issue, the court found that no special circumstances existed that prevented the timely lodgement of the application for review. Consequently, the court determined that the date of effect of the AAT's decision was the date the application for review was lodged. The court did not make specific findings on the second issue regarding the change in the pattern of care in 2017, as the resolution of the first issue was determinative of the appeal.