SVKT and Child Support Registrar (Child support second review)

This matter concerned a second review by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) of a decision by the Child Support Registrar regarding the date of effect of a percentage of care determination. The applicant, SVKT, sought to have a second tier review of a care percentage decision, but did so outside the prescribed 28-day period. The central issue was whether there were "special circumstances" that prevented SVKT from lodging the application within the statutory timeframe.

The AAT was required to determine whether the circumstances presented by SVKT constituted "special circumstances" as contemplated by section 95N(2) of the relevant Act. This section allows the AAT to extend the time for lodging an application for review if satisfied that special circumstances prevented the applicant from doing so within the usual period. The AAT considered the meaning of "special circumstances," noting that they must be objectively unusual or out of the ordinary and must have actively prevented the lodgement of the application, acting as an insurmountable block or hindrance.

The Tribunal found that the circumstances presented by SVKT did not meet the threshold for "special circumstances." The AAT reasoned that mere difficulty or challenge in lodging the application within the required timeframe was insufficient. The circumstances must have genuinely hindered or stopped the lodgement from occurring within the 28-day period. As the AAT was not satisfied that such special circumstances existed, it affirmed the decision under review.