Westwell and Baines (Child support)

This matter concerned an appeal by Westwell against a decision of the Child Support Registrar concerning an estimate of income election. The Registrar had refused to accept Westwell's election to estimate his income for child support purposes.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the Registrar's decision to refuse the estimate of income election was justified. This required the Tribunal to consider the criteria under the *Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988* (Cth) for accepting or refusing such an election, specifically whether the estimated income was likely to be less than the actual income.

The Tribunal affirmed the Registrar's decision, finding that the evidence presented did not demonstrate that Westwell's estimated income was likely to be less than his actual income. The principles applied focused on the statutory requirements for an estimate of income election, which necessitate a genuine likelihood that actual income will differ from assessed income, and that the estimate is a reasonable reflection of that anticipated difference. The Tribunal was not satisfied that these conditions were met on the facts before it.