Wolford and Fendi (Child support)

This matter concerned an appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) regarding a child support departure determination. The applicant, identified as Wolford, sought a departure from the standard child support assessment, alleging that the respondent, Fendi, possessed undeclared income and financial resources. The AAT was tasked with reviewing the initial decision to refuse the departure determination.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant had established a ground for departure from the child support assessment under the relevant legislation. Specifically, the Tribunal had to determine if Fendi had intentionally and consistently under-reported their income or had access to financial resources that were not being considered in the standard assessment, thereby causing Fendi to be unable to meet their child support obligations.

The Tribunal's reasoning focused on the evidence presented by Wolford to substantiate the claim of undeclared income. After considering the submissions and evidence, the Tribunal found that Wolford had not discharged the onus of proving that Fendi had a source of income or financial resources that were not being taken into account by the child support assessment. Consequently, the Tribunal concluded that no ground for departure had been established. The decision under review, which refused to make a departure determination, was affirmed.