Tysver and Mauter (Child support)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered an application by the liable parent, Mr Tysver, concerning the adjusted taxable incomes used in past child support assessments. The dispute centred on whether these past incomes should be reduced, thereby affecting the child support payable for those periods. The AAT reviewed decisions made by the Registrar of the Child Support Agency.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the conditions prescribed by the *Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988* (Cth) for varying an administrative assessment by changing the adjusted taxable income of the liable parent for past periods were met. Specifically, the Tribunal had to determine if the liable parent had demonstrated that the original assessments were based on an incorrect adjusted taxable income for those past years.

The Tribunal's reasoning focused on the statutory requirements for altering past assessments. It found that the liable parent had not provided sufficient evidence to satisfy the conditions for reducing his adjusted taxable income for the relevant past periods. The legislation requires a high threshold to be met before past assessments can be retrospectively altered, and in this instance, that threshold was not reached. Consequently, the Tribunal set aside the decisions under review and substituted its own decisions. The Tribunal substituted decisions that affirmed the original assessments, finding no basis to reduce the liable parent's adjusted taxable income for the past periods in question.