XQHZ and Child Support Registrar (Child support second review)

This matter concerned a second review of a child support decision, brought before the court by the mother (XQHZ) against the Child Support Registrar. The central dispute revolved around the percentage of care each parent had for their child, Z, during the period from 1 January 2018 to 7 May 2021. The mother asserted she had 70% care, while the father claimed 100% care from 1 January 2018. A previous decision by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT1) had found that for the period 1 January 2018 to 21 March 2020, the father had 65% care and the mother 35% care, a finding that the mother sought to have further reviewed.

The legal issues before the court included determining the actual percentage of care each parent had for Z during the relevant periods, and whether the AAT1 had jurisdiction to make findings about care percentages for a period that commenced and concluded before the father's application for child support assessment was made. The Child Support Registrar submitted that the AAT1's jurisdiction was limited to assessing care percentages at the time of the child support application.

The court reasoned that the question of the AAT1's jurisdiction to consider periods predating the child support application did not need to be determined, as the court found that the care arrangements changed on 1 April 2020. The court noted that the family assistance care determination up to that date remained consistent with the actual care arrangements. The court ultimately set aside the previous decision under review.

The court substituted a new decision, revoking the determination of the percentage of care made under the *A New Tax System (Family Assistance) Act 1999* (Cth) from 31 March 2020. Furthermore, from 1 April 2020 until a subsequent care determination was made, the court ordered that the father had 100% care of the child and the mother had 0% care.