What Is Child Support?
As parents, you both have a responsibility to share the financial responsibility for raising your children. Child support (also known as child maintenance) is the formal term used to describe regular payments made to the parent who is the child's primary caregiver.
The child must be the natural or adopted child of the person paying child support.
Am I Eligible For Child Support?
You can claim child support if:
- You care for your child at least 110 nights in the 12 months following an application for assessment or application for acceptance of an agreement; and
- you're not living as a partner with the person who would be paying child support on the day the agreement is signed or the application for an assessment is made:
- The other parent must be a resident of Australia. NB: You may be able to apply for an assessment if the other parent lives overseas, please phone the Child Support Agency http://www.csa.gov.au (CSA) on 131 272 to find out more.
- Your children must be under 18 and not married or living in a de facto relationship; and
- Your children must be in Australia, usually live in Australia or be Australian citizens.
Do I Have To Pay Child Support?
As parents you're both responsible for the financial support of your children until the age of 18. You can enter into a private agreement with your former partner or the Child Support Agency (CSA) can make an assessment. Payments can either be collected directly or through the CSA.
How Do I Know How Much Child Support Should Be Paid?
Child support payments are paid by one parent to the other to help with the costs of raising a child under 18.
There are a number of ways that you can determine how much child support should be paid, including:
- A formula assessment through the CSA
- A private agreement between you and your former partner
- A court order
These payments are separate from any parenting or other Centrelink payments a parent may get. Be Aware that child support payments can affect how much you're paid by Centrelink.
The CSA has a great range of tools that will give you an idea of how much child support should be paid.
For more information on the child support formula click here.
To use the CSA's online calculator or worksheet to help
estimate what should be paid click here.
What Factors Impact How Much Child Support Should Be Paid?
How much child support should be paid depends on:
- The financial circumstances of each parent
- The ages of the children
- The level of care each parent provides for the children
- Whether either parent supports other children
- Any special needs of the children.
What Is A Child Support Formula Assessment?
A Formula for your child support is based on a legislative formula. Most CSA customers have a child support formula assessment administered through the CSA.
Click here to view the formula.
How Do I Get An Assessment?
To get the CSA to make a child support assessment for your child, you can either phone 131 272, or complete an application for child support assessment and post it to the CSA.
To download an Application for Assessment click here.
If you will be the parent receiving the child support payments and you receive more than the base rate of Family Tax Benefit Part A, you must apply for a child support assessment or your benefit may be reduced.
What Is A Child Support Agreement?
If you and your former partner agree on parenting and financial support arrangements then you can enter into a child support agreement.
This could be as informal as a verbal agreement or written up and lodged with the Court to be turned into Consent Orders.
If you choose to, you can lodge your agreement with the CSA for approval. The CSA considers there to be 2 types of agreements:
1. Limited agreements
2. Binding Agreements
What Is A Limited Agreement?
Limited agreements are formal written agreements that are signed by both parents. You don't need to seek legal advice before entering into a limited agreement. However, it's a good idea to get professional advice on any matter involving your children or financial matters.
In order to be considered a limited agreement:
- There must be a child support formula assessment already in place; and
- Amounts payable under the agreement must be equal to or more than the child support assessed by the formula.
The formula assessment is updated:
- Every 3 years; or
- If the amount of child support payable under the agreement changes by more than 15 per cent; or
- Whenever either parent asks for an updated assessment.
This ensures parents know how much child support would have been payable if the agreement was not in place, and helps Centrelink to calculate Family Tax Benefit.
How Can I End A Limited Agreement?
Parents can end a limited agreement if:
- Both parents agree to end the agreement
- More than 3 years has passed with the existing agreement in place, and written notice is provided by the parent who wants to end it
- There is a court order that sets aside the agreement
- The formula assessment varies by more than 15 per cent from the previous assessment, in circumstances not included in the agreement, and one of the parents wants to end it, or
- A new agreement replaces the existing agreement.
If the formula assessment changes by more than 15 per cent, in circumstances not considered in the agreement, either parent may be able to end a limited agreement by writing to the CSA. This means parents can end agreements if their circumstances change in ways that weren't covered by the agreement.
You can ask the CSA to collect and transfer child support payments, or you can do it directly.
What Is A Binding Agreement?
Binding agreements are also written and signed by both parents, but have the following differences to limited agreements:
- Parents must seek independent legal advice to enter or end the agreement
- Each parent's lawyer must provide a statement that they provided the parent with independent legal advice
- The agreement can be made for any amount that both parents agree to, including amounts less than the formula assessment
- The agreement can only be ended by a new binding agreement or a court order setting aside the agreement
- There does not have to be a child support formula assessment already in place.
You should talk to a legal professional if you're interested in this type of agreement.
What If We Agree To A Lump Sum Payment?
Binding agreements can include lump sum payments (including transfer of property) to be credited as child support instead of monthly cash or electronic payments.
For these types of agreements, there must be a formula assessment in place and the lump sum must be equal to or greater than the annual child support rate under that assessment.
Once again you can ask the CSA to collect and transfer child support payments or you can do it directly.
When Should Child Support Be Paid?
Both parents have a responsibility to financially provide for their children therefore interim financial arrangements should be made as soon as possible after you separate. Once things settle down you can then try and establish long term arrangements.
How Is Child Support Changing?
On July 1st 2008 the formula used by the CSA to work out how much each parent should pay changed.
Instead of child support being calculated as a fixed percentage of parents' income, it will now take into account:
- The costs of raising children at different ages
- How much parents share parenting
- Both parents' incomes.
The new payment amounts start on 1 July 2008.
If you're already a CSA customer the CSA should have worked out your new support payments and you should have received notification of the new assessment.
The other major change to child support scheme involves the process for parents who want to make private agreements about child support payments. Parents will be able to make either a binding agreement or a limited agreement.
For more information on the Child support scheme reforms click here.
Acknowledgement: This information has been taken directly from the Child Support Agency website.
Can I Get Maintenance For Children Over 18?
If a child turns 18 in their final year of secondary school, the parent who receives payments can make an application to the CSA to extend the child support assessment until the end of the school year. You need to apply before the child turns 18.
A court can make an order for parents to provide financial support for their adult children if the adult child is unable to support themself because they:
- Are completing their education (including tertiary education)
- Have a mental disability
- Have a physical disability.
The amount of maintenance to be paid will depend on the adult child's necessary expenses and the financial position of each parent.
Parents can make their own agreement, or file consent orders in a court (where both parents agree to the orders). When parents cannot reach agreement, the court can decide the amount to be paid.
Only a court order for ongoing payments of maintenance can be registered for collection with the CSA.
Acknowledgement: This information has been taken directly from the Child Support Agency website.
Why Should I Use The CSA?
The CSA provides parents with an assessment and collection service. You and your former partner can make your own arrangements for payment or the CSA can collect it. Private collection is only recommended in cases where the payer is likely to pay or has a good payment history.
What Can The CSA Do If I'm Not Paid My Child Support Payments?
If you choose to use the CSA service and payment is overdue, the CSA has various options to enforce the debt.
They can:
- Intercept tax refunds
- Arrange wage deductions
- Arrange for collection from a third party (eg a bank or superannuation fund)
- Intercept the proceeds of sale of property or any other funds available.
They can also apply late payment penalties for late or non-payment of child support.
Is There A Minimum Rate Of Child Support?
Every parent is legally required to contribute financially to the living costs of their children.
If a paying parent reports a low taxable income (currently about $14,600) and are not receiving income support, they will be required to pay $20 (indexed annually) per child per week. Where there are more than three children, the amount will be capped at $60 a week. This is called a fixed assessment.
Fixed assessments are being introduced to cover parents who deliberately under report their income to avoid paying or to reduce the amount of child support payable.
This $20 per child amount will still be payable if the parent has regular care of the child (14% to 34%). If a parent has a higher level of care, this amount will not be payable because the parent will be directly contributing to the child's support through care.
Acknowledgement: This information has been taken directly from the Child Support Agency website.
What If The Paying Parent Is Receiving Income Support?
From 1 July 2008, paying parents who receive income support payments and whose income is less than around $14,600 will pay the minimum payment of around $6 per week per family. The minimum rate of child support will be indexed annually, and parents will be advised in writing of the new amount.
If the paying parent has regular care of 14% and 34% (between 52 and 127 nights a year), they won't need to pay the minimum because it is considered that they're meeting some of the child's costs directly through care.
Acknowledgement: This information has been taken directly from the Child Support Agency website.
Can An Assessment Be Changed?
If your circumstances have changed or you think your assessment is not fair you can lodge a "Change of Assessment" application.
The CSA will look at 10 specific areas of assessment:
- High cost of contact
- Special needs of the child
- Agreed education costs
- Income or property of the child
- Child care costs
- Income, earning capacity, or property of either parent is not reflected in the assessment
- Self support expenses
- Income or property provided for the child
- Legal duty to support another person
- Additional income earned for the benefit of other resident children (eg step children)
Do I Have To Pay Spousal Maintenance?
When a couple separate it is expected that each of you will try and support yourselves. However, if either of you are unable to meet your own needs and the other person is able to help, then maintenance may be payable.
Factors that may impact a person's ability to provide for themselve's include:
- Having to care for young children
- Age
- Physical or mental disability that makes them unable to work
It is unlikely that a separated person who is not caring for children and who is able to support themselves will be awarded maintenance.
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