Voaden and Voaden (Child support)

This matter concerned an application by the father, Mr Voaden, to extend a child support assessment beyond the child's eighteenth birthday. The mother, Ms Voaden, opposed this application. The decision was made by Member S Brakespeare of the Child Support Division of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the child was undertaking full-time secondary education on their eighteenth birthday, a prerequisite for extending child support assessments beyond that age under the relevant legislation.

The Tribunal considered the evidence presented regarding the child's enrolment and attendance at a secondary college. It applied the principles established in the *Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988* which stipulate that for an assessment to continue beyond a child's eighteenth birthday, the child must be undertaking full-time secondary education. The Tribunal found that the evidence did not establish that the child was undertaking full-time secondary education on the relevant date.

Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the decision under review, which had refused to extend the child support assessment beyond the child's eighteenth birthday.