Stansfield and Child Support Registrar (Child support)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered the dispute between Mr Stansfield and the Child Support Registrar concerning the percentage of care arrangements for a child. The Registrar had made a decision to revoke existing percentage of care determinations and make new ones, which Mr Stansfield sought to have reviewed.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether there had been a change to the likely pattern of care of the child that would justify the revocation of existing percentage of care determinations and the making of new ones. The Tribunal was required to assess the evidence presented to determine if the factual circumstances had altered sufficiently to warrant a change in the established care arrangements.

The Tribunal’s reasoning focused on the interpretation and application of the relevant provisions of the *Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988* concerning changes to care arrangements. It considered the evidence regarding the actual and anticipated care provided by each parent. The Tribunal applied the legal principle that a change in the likely pattern of care must be substantial and likely to persist to warrant a variation of existing determinations.

The Tribunal varied the decision under review, indicating that the Registrar's original decision to revoke and remake the percentage of care determinations was not upheld in its entirety.