Sandoval and Sandoval (Child support)

This matter concerned an appeal by the father, Mr Sandoval, against a departure determination made by the Registrar of the Child Support Agency concerning the child support payable for the parties' two children. The Registrar had determined that the father should pay an increased amount of child support to meet the costs of the children's private school education, finding that these costs were a manner expected by both parents and significantly affected the cost of maintaining the children, and that the father had the financial capacity to contribute. The appeal was heard by Magistrate S Brakespeare.

The primary legal issue before the Court was whether the Registrar had erred in making the departure determination. Specifically, the Court was required to consider whether the costs of the children's private education constituted a "relevant expense" under section 117(2)(a)(i) of the *Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988* (Cth), and whether the Registrar had correctly applied the principles of "a manner expected by both parents" and the impact on the cost of maintaining the children, as well as the financial resources of both parents, when making the determination.

Magistrate Brakespeare reasoned that the Registrar had failed to adequately consider the father's evidence regarding his financial position and the extent to which he had agreed to the children attending private school. The Court found that while the children were attending private school, the evidence did not sufficiently establish that this was a manner expected by *both* parents in a way that would justify a departure from the standard assessment. The Court also considered that the Registrar had not given sufficient weight to the father's financial capacity to meet the increased costs. Consequently, the Court set aside the Registrar's departure determination and substituted its own decision. The Court ordered that the father's child support assessment remain at the standard rate, finding that the criteria for a departure determination had not been met.