Waas and Haab (Child support)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered an application for review concerning the acceptance of an application for an administrative assessment of child support. The applicant, Waas, sought to have child support assessed, but the respondent, Haab, argued that the application should not have been accepted. The core of the dispute revolved around the circumstances under which an administrative assessment could be validly made.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether the application for an administrative assessment of child support was correctly accepted by the Registrar, given that the child in question was living with both parents at the time the application was made. This raised the question of whether the conditions precedent for initiating an administrative assessment under the relevant legislation had been met.

The Tribunal reasoned that the *Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988* (Cth) and associated regulations contemplate that an administrative assessment is typically made when a child is not living with both parents. In this instance, the evidence indicated that the child resided with both Waas and Haab. Consequently, the Tribunal concluded that the Registrar had erred in accepting the application for an administrative assessment under these circumstances. The Tribunal set aside the original decision and substituted its own decision, refusing the application for an administrative assessment.