SHYH and Child Support Registrar (Child support second review)

This matter concerned a second review of a child support assessment, brought before the Tribunal by the Father against the Child Support Registrar. The dispute centred on the appropriate percentage of care each parent had for their child from 18 September 2017, and the date from which any change in that percentage should take effect. The original assessment, effective from 27 February 2015, had attributed 51% care to the Mother and 49% to the Father, resulting in the Father paying child support. A notification of a change in care percentage was received by the Registrar on 18 September 2017, claiming the Father had 95% care. The Registrar initially rejected this change, and subsequently disallowed the Father's objection on 7 March 2018, finding insufficient evidence to determine a clear pattern of care.

The legal issues before the Tribunal were twofold: firstly, to determine the actual percentage of care each parent had for the child from 18 September 2017, and secondly, to ascertain the correct date of effect for any revised assessment, particularly in light of the Father's application for review to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) being lodged out of time. The Tribunal was required to consider whether there were special circumstances justifying the late filing of the application to the AAT, and if not, how this impacted the commencement date of any revised child support assessment.

The Tribunal found, based on the evidence including the Mother's calendar and her communications with the Registrar, that a change in the pattern of care had occurred by 18 September 2017. It determined that the Father had 70% care and the Mother had 30% care of the child during the relevant period. However, the Tribunal also found that there were no special circumstances to excuse the Father's late application to the AAT, which was lodged after the 28-day time limit had expired. Consequently, while the Tribunal affirmed the revised care percentages, it ordered that the decision's date of effect would be the date the Father's application was properly received by the AAT, rather than the earlier date of the claimed change in care.