Tisdell and Tisdell (Child support)

This matter concerned a review by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) of a decision by the Child Support Registrar regarding the registration of a binding child support agreement. The applicant, Mr Tisdell, sought to have a 2009 financial agreement with Ms Tisdell registered as a binding child support agreement from a date prior to 17 April 2020. The dispute arose after Ms Tisdell applied for a child support assessment on 4 March 2020, and Child Support initially decided to accept the agreement with effect from 17 April 2020, a decision Mr Tisdell objected to.

The primary legal issue before the tribunal was to determine the earliest date from which the binding child support agreement between Mr Tisdell and Ms Tisdell could be registered. This involved considering whether Mr Tisdell's communication with Child Support on 1 April 2020 constituted a valid application for the registration of the agreement, given that Child Support's policy allowed for verbal or written applications. The tribunal also had to consider the effect of the agreement's terms, which stipulated that no child support payments were to be exchanged, conditional on Mr Tisdell paying the child's private school tuition fees.

The tribunal reasoned that Mr Tisdell's notification to Child Support on 1 April 2020 about the existence of a binding child support agreement, in the context of Ms Tisdell's application for an assessment, was sufficient to be considered an application for registration. The tribunal found that the 2009 financial agreement met the requirements of a binding child support agreement under the *Child Support (Assessment) Act 1989*. Applying the principle that an application can be made verbally or in writing, and noting that the agreement was lodged with Child Support on 1 April 2020, the tribunal concluded that this date should be the effective date of registration.

The tribunal set aside the decision under review and, in substitution, decided that the binding child support agreement between Mr Tisdell and Ms Tisdell was to be registered from 1 April 2020.