Swanton and Parnell (Child support)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the dispute between Swanton and Parnell concerning the particulars of a child support administrative assessment. The core of the disagreement related to whether certain post-separation costs should be excluded from the adjusted taxable income for the last relevant year.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether an amount of additional income, earned not in the ordinary course after separation, should be excluded from the calculation of adjusted taxable income for the purposes of the child support assessment.

The Tribunal reasoned that the specific nature of the additional income, being earned outside the ordinary course of events after separation, warranted its exclusion from the adjusted taxable income. This approach aimed to ensure the assessment accurately reflected the parties' financial circumstances relevant to their child support obligations. The Tribunal accordingly set aside the previous decision under review and substituted its own orders.