SSAT Child Support Review Directions 20091
Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988
I, L. M. BLACKLOW, Executive Director, Social Security Appeals Tribunal, make these Directions under paragraph 103ZA (1) (a) of the Child Support (Registration and Collection Act) 1988.
Dated 8 April 2009
L M BLACKLOW
Executive Director, Social Security Appeals Tribunal
Division 1              Preliminary
1              Name of Directions
                These Directions are the SSAT Child Support Review Directions 2009.
2              Commencement
                These Directions commence on the day after they are registered.
3              Definitions
                In these Directions:
Act means the Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988.
authorised representative means either of the following persons:
(a)    a person:
                          (i)    who is authorised by a party to represent the party in a review; and
                         (ii)    who the Tribunal accepts may represent the party in the review;
               (b)    a person who is authorised by a party to represent the person in CSA, Administrative Appeals Tribunal or court proceedings about child support.
CSA means the Child Support Agency.
departure determination review means the review of a decision by the Registrar to make or refuse to make a determination under Part 6A of the Child Support (Assessment) Act 1989.
family violence order has the same meaning as in subsection 4 (1) of the Family Law Act 1975.
hearing means the hearing of a review.
party means, unless otherwise stated, a party to a review who is mentioned in subsection 101 (1) of the Act, other than the Registrar.
presiding member means the presiding member of the Tribunal as constituted for a particular review.
Registrar means the Child Support Registrar.
review means a review by the Tribunal under Part VIIA of the Act of a decision or determination.
SSAT means the Social Security Appeals Tribunal.
Tribunal means the Social Security Appeals Tribunal.
4              Application of these Directions
                These Directions apply to reviews by the Tribunal, under Part VIIA of the Act, of decisions that are reviewable under that Part.
Note   Subsection 103ZA (4) of the Act provides that the presiding member of the Tribunal as constituted for a particular review may give directions as to the procedure to be followed by the Tribunal on the hearing of the review. Subsection 103ZA (5) of the Act provides that those directions must not be inconsistent with, among other things, these general directions.
Division 2              Confidentiality of information given to parties
5              Limit on disclosure by parties of CSA and Tribunal documents
         (1)   A party must not disclose the following documents given to the party by the Registrar, or information contained in the documents, to any person except an authorised representative of the party:
                (a)    a statement about the decision under review;
               (b)    any other document relevant to the review.
Note   Section 96 of the Act provides that the Registrar must give each party a copy of the statement about the decision under review and copies of the other documents relevant to the review.
         (2)   A party must not disclose a document given to the party by the Tribunal, or information contained in the document, to any person other than an authorised representative of the party.
         (3)   Subsection (2) does not apply to any general information given by the Tribunal to a party about review procedure or other procedural matters such as information about the date, time and place of the hearing or any pre‑hearing conference.
6              Limit on disclosure of documents or information given by other parties or witnesses
         (1)   A party must not disclose a thing mentioned in subsection (4) to any person except an authorised representative of the party.
         (2)   A person who is or may be a witness at a hearing must not disclose a thing mentioned in subsection (4) to any person.
         (3)   Subsections (1) and (2) apply if the thing is given by any of the following:
                (a)    another party in a hearing or pre-hearing conference;
               (b)    another party after a pre-hearing conference or hearing on request by the Tribunal;
                (c)    any person in evidence before, in or after a hearing.
         (4)   For this section, a thing is:
                (a)    a document; or
               (b)    information contained in a document; or
                (c)    information about the personal or financial circumstances of:
                          (i)    another party; or
                         (ii)    a witness; or
                         (iii)    any other person.
Note   An example of information mentioned in paragraph 4 (c) is information given in oral evidence at a hearing about a person’s personal relationships, financial circumstances or medical conditions.
7              Use by authorised representatives of CSA and Tribunal documents or information
                A party’s authorised representative may only use a document or information mentioned in subsection 5 (1) or (2) or section 6 for the following purposes:
                (a)    representation of the party in a review;
               (b)    further consideration of a child support assessment by any of the following:
                          (i)    the CSA;
                         (ii)    the Administrative Appeals Tribunal;
                         (iii)    a court.
Division 3              Documents to be given to the Tribunal
8              Documents for hearing
                A party, including the Registrar, must give the Tribunal, at least 14 days before a hearing, all documents on which the party intends to rely at the hearing.
9              Family violence orders
         (1)   An applicant for a review must give the Tribunal copies of the following documents as soon as possible:
                (a)    any family violence order the applicant has obtained against another person who may be a party;
               (b)    any family violence order to which the applicant is subject.
         (2)   Any other person who will be a party must give the Tribunal copies of the following documents as soon as possible after being notified of the review:
                (a)    any family violence order the person has obtained against another person who may be a party;
               (b)    any family violence order to which the person is subject.
         (3)   A party must give copies of the following documents to the Tribunal as soon as possible:
                (a)    any family violence order the person has obtained against another party that was issued after the application for the review was made;
               (b)    any family violence order to which the person is subject that was issued after the application was made.
10            Statements of financial circumstances
                A party who receives a ‘Statement of financial circumstances’ form from the Tribunal must complete the form and return it to the Tribunal within 14 days after receiving the form.
Division 4              Use and disclosure of documents given by a party to the Tribunal
11            Tribunal use of documents
                If a party gives a document to the Tribunal less than 14 days before the hearing, the Tribunal may only consider the document with the agreement of the presiding member.
12            Tribunal disclosure of documents
         (1)   The Tribunal will disclose any document given to it by a party to all other parties, including the Registrar.
         (2)   Subsection (1) does not apply to a document or information that the Tribunal decides is not relevant to the review.
Division 5              Pre-hearing conferences and hearings
13            Application of Division to Registrar
                The Registrar is a party for this Division other than for section 14.
14            Participation by parties in pre-hearing conferences
         (1)   A party to a departure determination review is to comply with any request by the Tribunal for the party to participate in a pre-hearing conference.
         (2)   Pre-hearing conferences will be conducted by telephone.
15            Giving of evidence at hearings
                A party must take an oath or make an affirmation at a hearing before giving evidence or making a submission at the hearing.
16            Recording of hearings
         (1)   The Tribunal must electronically record all hearing proceedings.
         (2)   The Tribunal must not provide the electronic record of hearing proceedings, or a copy of the record, to a party.
         (3)   A party must not electronically record a part of a hearing or pre-hearing conference.
17            Interpreters
         (1)   The Tribunal may decide that an interpreter is required for a hearing.
         (2)   A party may request the Tribunal, at least 14 days before a hearing, to arrange for an interpreter to be present at a hearing or pre-hearing conference to provide the party with interpreter services.
         (3)   A person may only act as an interpreter for a party with the agreement of the Tribunal.
         (4)   An interpreter must take an oath or make an affirmation before providing interpreter services at a hearing.
18            Witnesses at hearings
         (1)   A party must notify the Tribunal of any witness who the party intends to have give evidence at a hearing at least 14 days before the hearing.
         (2)   A child must not be a witness at a hearing.
19            No children in hearing room
                A child must not be in a hearing room during the conduct of a hearing in the room.
20            Adjournment requests
         (1)   A party who wants the Tribunal to adjourn a hearing or pre-hearing conference must do all of the following:
                (a)    request the adjournment in writing to the Tribunal;
               (b)    make the request at least 14 days before the hearing or conference that the party wants adjourned;
                (c)    state the reasons for the adjournment in the request;
               (d)    attach any supporting documents to the request.
         (2)   If a party requests an adjournment within 14 days of the hearing or conference that is the subject of the request, the Tribunal must not grant the request unless it decides that there are compelling reasons.
21            Request for reinstatement of application for review
         (1)   A party may request the reinstatement of an application for review that has been dismissed under section 100A of the Act.
         (2)   A request mentioned in subsection (1) must:
                (a)    be made within 28 days after the party receives notice that the application has been dismissed; and
               (b)    be in writing; and
                (c)    include the reasons for the reinstatement.
Division 6              Tribunal members
22            Contact with Tribunal members
                A party must not contact or attempt to contact a Tribunal member other than at a hearing or pre-hearing conference.
Note
1.       All legislative instruments and compilations are registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments kept under the Legislative Instruments Act 2003. See http://www.frli.gov.au.