Scrivenor and Child Support Registrar (Child support)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered the dispute between Scrivenor and the Child Support Registrar concerning the percentage of care attributed to Scrivenor for a child. The core of the disagreement revolved around whether Scrivenor had ceased to take reasonable action to obtain the return of the child during the maximum interim period, and the effective date of an objection decision.

The Tribunal was required to determine two primary legal issues. Firstly, whether Scrivenor had indeed ceased to take reasonable action to obtain the return of the child during the relevant maximum interim period. Secondly, the Tribunal had to ascertain the correct date from which an objection decision should take effect, and whether there were special circumstances that would permit the objection to be lodged out of time.

In its reasoning, the Tribunal found that special circumstances did exist which prevented the objection from being lodged within the prescribed timeframe. This finding was central to its decision regarding the effective date of the objection. Consequently, the Tribunal varied the decision under review.