YKYS and Child Support Registrar (Child support second review)

The matter before the Tribunal concerned a second review of a child support assessment. The Applicant sought to challenge a decision of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) made on 18 July 2019 (AAT 1 Decision), which had set aside a previous review decision and substituted it with a determination of care percentages between the Applicant and the Other Party from 26 May 2017. Crucially, the AAT 1 Decision also declined to make a determination under section 95N of the *Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988* (R&C Act) that special circumstances prevented the Applicant from applying for review by the AAT prior to 10 April 2019. The Applicant's primary objective was to give effect to the care percentage assessment from 25 March 2017, which was rendered inoperative by the AAT's refusal to find special circumstances for the late application.

The central legal issue for the Tribunal was whether the Applicant had demonstrated special circumstances that prevented her from making an application for review by the AAT prior to 10 April 2019, as required by section 95N(2) of the R&C Act. The Applicant did not dispute other aspects of the AAT 1 Decision, focusing solely on the Tribunal's refusal to find special circumstances for the late lodgement of her initial review application. The Tribunal was required to consider the provisions of section 95N, which outlines the conditions under which a decision varied or substituted by the AAT on first review can have retrospective effect, specifically when an application for review is made outside the prescribed time limits and special circumstances are found to exist.

The Tribunal considered the Applicant's stated purpose in seeking the review, which was to validate the care percentage assessment from an earlier date. However, the Tribunal noted that the child had turned 18 in early 2019, rendering the care percentage determination from 25 March 2017 of no practical effect. The Tribunal affirmed the AAT 1 Decision, concluding that the Applicant had not established special circumstances that prevented her from making her application for review by the AAT prior to 10 April 2019. Consequently, the Tribunal declined to make a determination under section 95N(2) of the R&C Act.