WSNY and Child Support Registrar (Child support second review)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered an application for an extension of time to lodge an application for review. The applicant sought to challenge a decision made by AAT1 on 10 February 2023, but the application for review was lodged 10 days out of time. The Deputy President, The Hon. John Pascoe AC CVO, was tasked with determining whether it was reasonable in all the circumstances to grant this extension.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether to exercise its discretion under section 29(7) of the *Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1978* (Cth) to extend the time for lodging the application. In determining this, the Tribunal was required to consider several factors, including the length of the delay, the applicant's awareness of appeal rights and the explanation for the delay, the prospects of success if an extension were granted, any prejudice to the respondent, and relevant public interest considerations.

The Tribunal acknowledged the applicant's explanation for the 10-day delay, attributing it to health issues and a misunderstanding of information from the Tribunal Registry. While accepting the delay was minimal and caused by these factors, the Tribunal found that this was not determinative. Crucially, the Tribunal assessed the applicant's prospects of success on the merits of the substantive review application and concluded they were very low. The applicant's claimed percentage of care (33%) would not alter the child support payable, as the calculation bands meant that a percentage of care between 14% and less than 35% resulted in the same child support amount as determined by AAT1. Therefore, even if an extension were granted and the applicant succeeded in the review, the outcome would be futile.

Consequently, the Tribunal refused the application for an extension of time.