Sammons and Child Support Registrar (Child support)

This matter concerned an appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) regarding a decision by the Child Support Registrar concerning the percentage of care for a child. The appellant, Sammons, sought to have the Registrar's decision set aside and substituted with a different determination of the care percentage.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was to determine the likely pattern of care for the child from the commencement of the administrative assessment. This involved assessing the evidence presented by the parties to ascertain the actual care arrangements that had been in place and to project those arrangements into the future for the purpose of calculating child support.

The Tribunal considered the evidence regarding the care arrangements and found that the Registrar's initial assessment did not accurately reflect the likely pattern of care. Applying the principles of the *Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988*, the Tribunal determined that a different percentage of care was more appropriate. Consequently, the Tribunal set aside the Registrar's decision and substituted its own finding regarding the percentage of care.