Sheppard and Sheppard (Child support)

[2022] AATA 3524

Sheppard and Sheppard (Child support) [2022] AATA 3524 (9 August 2022)

DIVISION:Social Services & Child Support Division

REVIEW NUMBER:  2022/SC023964

APPLICANT:  Mr Sheppard

OTHER PARTIES:  Child Support Registrar

Ms Sheppard

TRIBUNAL:Member P Jensen

DECISION DATE:  9 August 2022

DECISION:

The decision under review is affirmed.

CATCHWORDS

CHILD SUPPORT – percentage of care – whether there was a change to the likely pattern of care – decision under review affirmed

Names used in all published decisions are pseudonyms. Any references appearing in square brackets indicate that information has been removed from this decision and replaced with generic information so as not to identify involved individuals as required by subsections 16(2AB)-16(2AC) of the Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988.

REASONS FOR DECISION

1. Mr Sheppard and Ms Sheppard are the parents of [Child 1]. A child support case was registered with the Child Support Agency (“the CSA”) from 19 October 2021. Ms Sheppard was recorded as providing 100% care for [Child 1].

2. On 28 February 2022 the CSA decided to record Mr Sheppard as providing 46% care and Ms Sheppard as providing 54% care for [Child 1] from 30 January 2022. Mr Sheppard objected to that decision. An objections officer disallowed his objection. Mr Sheppard applied to the Tribunal for further review. The child support case ended of [in] June 2022, which was the day before [Child 1] turned 18. Mr Sheppard’s application for review was listed for hearing on 9 August 2022. On the afternoon before the morning of the hearing, Mr Sheppard applied for an adjournment on the basis that he had recently received a one-and-a-half page document that Ms Sheppard had provided to the Tribunal and the Tribunal registry had sent to him by express post on 27 July 2022. On the morning of the hearing I refused Mr Sheppard’s application for an adjournment and gave brief ex tempore reasons for that decision. The hearing proceeded as scheduled. Mr Sheppard and Ms Sheppard gave sworn evidence via MS Teams.

3. Care decisions are made pursuant to the Child Support (Assessment) Act 1989 (“the Act”). Decision-makers are required to determine the pattern of care each parent has had, or is likely to have, during the appropriate care period: section 50 of the Act.

4. On 17 February 2022, Ms Sheppard reported a change in care. In my opinion, it is significant that she was reporting a decrease in her percentage of care in circumstances where Mr Sheppard had not reported the change in care; it suggests that Ms Sheppard wished to ensure that the rate of child support payable between the parents remained fair. Ms Sheppard reported that Mr Sheppard provided a week of care from 30 January 2022 and another week of care from 20 February 2022. She said that Mr Sheppard would be providing two weeks of care per month.

5. At the hearing, both parents confirmed that the change in care occurred on 30 January 2022 and, as at 28 February 2022 when the original decision-maker made their decision, Mr Sheppard had provided a week’s care from 30 January 2022 and another week’s care from 20 February 2022. Ms Sheppard explained that she had not been communicating directly with Mr Sheppard in early 2022 but [Child 1] had told her that Mr Sheppard was seeking week‑about care. Ms Sheppard explained that when she reported the change in care to the CSA on 17 February 2022, she was aware of Mr Sheppard’s desire to provide week-about care and she was also aware that he had not been providing week-about care. Her statement that Mr Sheppard would be providing two weeks of care per month was her best prediction of his likely pattern of care, based on what he had said and what he had done.

6. The CSA wrote to Mr Sheppard on 17 February 2022 and advised him that Ms Sheppard had reported that he would be providing 168 nights of care per year from 30 January 2022. It asked him to contact it about the reported change in care. He did not respond to the CSA’s letter. On 28 February 2022 the CSA decided to record him as providing (14 x 12) / 365 = 46% care.

7. At the hearing, Mr Sheppard said that his general pattern of care had been week-about care. He acknowledged that he had not provided week-about care as at 28 February 2022 when the CSA made its care decision, but he provided an extra week of care in May 2022 (after the objections officer had disallowed his objection) to make up for the missed care in January 2022.

8. The original decision-maker was required to determine, as at 28 February 2022, the pattern of care each parent has had, or is likely to have, over the appropriate care period. The evidence suggested that Mr Sheppard was intending to have week-about care but he was not fully realising that intention. Ms Sheppard reported his increased care. Mr Sheppard did not respond to the CSA’s letter which invited him to confirm or dispute the information that Ms Sheppard had provided. I consider Ms Sheppard’s contemporaneous assessment of Mr Sheppard’s likely pattern of care to be the most reliable evidence on point. The CSA made the preferable decision.  

DECISION

The decision under review is affirmed.