Scoggins and Raynor (Child support)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered an application for review of a departure determination made by the Registrar of the Child Support Agency. The applicants, Scoggins and Raynor, sought to challenge the Registrar's decision to depart from the formula assessment of child support payable by Scoggins to Raynor. The core of the dispute concerned whether a payment received by Scoggins for total and permanent disability constituted a financial resource that should be taken into account for the purposes of a departure determination.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether the payment for total and permanent disability was a financial resource within the meaning of the *Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988* (Cth) and, if so, whether its exclusion from the formula assessment would result in an unjust or inequitable outcome. The Tribunal also had to consider whether the Registrar had erred in making the departure determination and, if so, what substituted decision should be made.

The Tribunal reasoned that a payment for total and permanent disability, while compensating for a loss of earning capacity, represented a capital sum and was not income in the ordinary sense. However, it held that such a payment could be considered a financial resource if it generated income or was capable of being used to generate income, thereby increasing the liable parent's capacity to pay child support. The Tribunal found that the Registrar had correctly identified the payment as a financial resource and that its exclusion from the formula assessment would indeed lead to an unjust and inequitable outcome, as it represented a significant financial asset available to Scoggins.

Consequently, the Tribunal set aside the Registrar's departure determination and substituted its own decision. The Tribunal determined that a departure from the formula assessment was justified and ordered that Scoggins' child support assessment be varied to reflect the inclusion of the disability payment as a financial resource.