TTJF and Child Support Registrar (Child support second review)

This matter concerned a review of a child support care determination. The applicant, TTJF, sought to have the child's care attributed 75% to her and 25% to the child's father from 29 January 2016. The Department of Human Services had initially amended its records to attribute 100% of the child's care to the applicant and 0% to the father from that date, leading to the father's objection. The father's objection was disallowed, and he subsequently applied for a review of the Department's decision to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT). The AAT had previously set aside the decision under review and substituted a new determination attributing 75% of the child's care to the applicant and 25% to the father from 29 January 2016. The current proceedings involved a further review of this AAT decision.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was to determine the actual pattern of care for the child during the relevant period from 29 January 2016 to 9 July 2016, and to make a new care determination based on that finding. This involved assessing the evidence presented by both the applicant and the father to establish the number of nights the child spent in each parent's care. The Tribunal was required to consider the principles outlined in the Child Support Guide regarding the establishment of a pattern of care, which generally involves considering the number of nights in care and whether any established pattern is likely to continue.

The Tribunal considered the evidence provided by both parties, including calendars, statutory declarations, letters from third parties, and oral evidence. It noted that much of the evidence was inconsistent or lacked corroboration, making it difficult to establish a clear pattern of care. The Tribunal found that the evidence did not establish that the child was in the father's care for more than 10 nights during the period from 29 January 2016 to 9 July 2016. Applying the principles of assessing actual care, the Tribunal concluded that the child's care was predominantly with the applicant during this period.

Consequently, the Tribunal decided to set aside the previous AAT decision. It revoked the care percentage determination made in that decision and made a new determination attributing 100% of the child's care to the applicant and 0% to the father for the period from 29 January 2016 to 9 July 2016.