Shersby and Armon (Child support) - [2024] AATA 1191

Shersby and Armon (Child support) [2024] AATA 1191 (4 April 2024)

DIVISION:Social Services & Child Support Division
REVIEW NUMBER:  2023/BC026725
APPLICANT:  Ms Shersby
OTHER PARTIES:  Child Support Registrar
Mr Armon

TRIBUNAL:Senior Member S De Bono
DECISION DATE: 04 April 2024
DECISION:

The decision under review is varied so that Mr Armon’s child support is increased by the following amounts:

$614 for the period 1 March 2023 to 29 February 2024 to pay half the cost of the laptop for [the child]; and
$215 annually for the period 1 March 2024 to 28 February 2025 to assist with the additional costs of [the child]’s medications.

CATCHWORDS

CHILD SUPPORT – departure from administrative assessment – special needs – costs of maintaining child – developmental conditions – medications and laptop required for school – father’s business income and deductions, and personal expenses – adjusted taxable income affirmed – just and equitable to change assessment – decision under review varied

Names used in all published decisions are pseudonyms. Any references appearing in square brackets indicate that information has been omitted 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

BACKGROUND

The issue to be determined in this application is whether there is a reason to change the administrative assessment of child support and, if so, whether it is just and equitable and otherwise proper to do so.
Ms Shersby and Mr Armon are the parents of [the child]. From the time of registration of child support [the child] was recorded by Services Australia (Child Support) as being in Ms Shersby’s 100% care. The child support case commenced on 14 October 2015. From the date of registration Mr Armon has been the parent liable to pay child support.
The administrative assessment in place prior to Ms Shersby’s change of assessment application on 12 April 2023 was as follows:
· For the period 28 February 2023 to 31 December 2023, Mr Armon is liable to pay an annual rate of child support of $1,521. This is the fixed annual rate for one child and is based on Mr Armon’s 2021/2022 adjusted taxable income (ATI) of $0.00 and Ms Shersby’s 2021/2022 ATI of $44,423.
Ms Shersby applied for a change to the administrative assessment of child support on the basis of Reason 1 – the high costs of spending time with or, communicating with, the child; Reason 2 – the special needs of the child and; Reason 8A – that the income, property and financial resources of Mr Armon are not adequately reflected in the administrative assessment of child support.[1]
[1] It was determined at the telephone directions hearing that Reason 1 did not apply to the circumstances of the case and Ms Shersby elected to proceed without consideration of this.
On 19 June 2023 a delegate of the Registrar made the decision to depart from the administrative assessment of child support on…

Grounds of appeal

[14] The appellant contends that the primary judge erred in finding that the respondent had discharged the onus of establishing the matters required under the relevant provision.

[15] It was submitted that his Honour failed to give adequate weight to the evidence of the second witness, and that the findings of fact were not reasonably open on the material before the Court.

[16] The respondent, for its part, submits that no error is disclosed, and that the conclusions reached were well within the range of outcomes available to the primary judge.

Consideration

[17] It is convenient to deal first with the question of construction, as the resolution of that issue informs the remaining grounds advanced by the appellant.

[18] For the reasons that follow, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed in part and the matter remitted for further determination.

Continue reading Shersby and Armon (Child support)

Details

AGLC: Shersby and Armon (Child support) [2024] AATA 1191
Case: [2024] AATA 1191
Decision Date: 4 April 2024

CaseChat Overview and Summary

This matter concerned an application by the mother, Shersby, to depart from a child support administrative assessment made by the Child Support Registrar. The father, Armon, sought to have the assessment affirmed. The dispute centred on whether the costs associated with the child's developmental conditions, including necessary medications and a laptop for school, constituted a special circumstance that warranted a departure from the standard assessment. The application was heard by Senior Member S De Bono.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether it was just and equitable to depart from the administrative assessment of child support. This required the Tribunal to consider whether the child had special needs and whether the costs incurred in meeting those needs were of a kind that justified a departure. The Tribunal also had to determine the father's adjusted taxable income, considering his business income, deductions, and personal expenses, to ensure any revised assessment accurately reflected his capacity to pay.

In reaching its decision, the Tribunal applied the principles outlined in the *Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988*. It found that the child's developmental conditions constituted a special need, and the ongoing costs of medication and the provision of a laptop for educational purposes were significant and directly related to meeting that need. The Tribunal carefully scrutinised the father's financial position, affirming his adjusted taxable income after considering his business affairs and personal expenditure. The Tribunal concluded that it was indeed just and equitable to depart from the administrative assessment.

The Tribunal varied the decision under review, ordering a departure from the administrative assessment to account for the child's special needs.

Orders