Under the Child Support (Assessment) Act, the primary carer of the child or children can make a claim for child support from the other parent.

The Child Support Agency is responsible for administering your child support arrangements, and assessing the amount of support which should be provided.

The decision is based on each parent's income, the number of children and their living arrangements.

It is a key pillar of family law that parents share rateably in the financial costs of caring for their children. A starting place for parents seeking to work out how they share the financial support of their children is the Child Support Section of the Department of Human Services. You can access the Department’s information about child support here:

The amount of child support payable (the assessment) by one parent to another is worked out by the Department of Human Services based upon several key criteria including the number of nights that a child lives with each parent and the taxable incomes of each of the parents. After the key information is input into the relevant formula the Department of Human Services will determine a monthly amount of money payable by one parent to the other parent. This monthly amount of money is intended to cover all of the financial needs of the child including their food, housing and any school fees. The monthly amount of money can be paid to the other parent through the Department of Human Services or the parents can agree on a “private collection” arrangement where one parent pays the monthly money directly to the other parent’s bank account.

What if the Department of Human Services gets it wrong or the monthly amount of child support is not fair in your circumstances? You have the option to object to the decision of the Department if, for example, you think the Department has followed the wrong process or used incorrect information to calculate the monthly amount of child support. You must object promptly (usually within 28 days of the decision) and the Department will review the decision through its internal processes. Ultimately if you are not happy with that internal review you can ask for the Social Security Appeals Tribunal to determine your objection. If you think that the monthly amount of child support assessed does not reflect “special circumstances” in your situation then you may be able to either: apply to the Department to internally reconsider the assessment; or apply to the Family Court or the Federal Circuit Court for an order replacing or varying the assessment. The second option (ie, applying to the court) is only available if you have other financial issues pending before the court. The Department or court will only “depart” from the assessment of child support if there are “special circumstances”.

Special circumstances mean a situation that is “out of the ordinary”. There are 10 reasons for change of the monthly amount of child support:

Reason 1
The cost to you of seeing the child or communicating with the child is high (ie. over 5% of your income)

Reason 2
The child has special needs. This includes medical needs such as disability but also includes children with particular abilities that cost additional money eg, a child that is a talented at a sport and needs to travel overseas to compete.

Reason 3
There are extra costs in: caring for, educating, or training the child in the way that both parents intended. The standard of education parents agree upon before the end of their relationship can be determinative of the future arrangements for the child. For example, a parent that agrees to a child attending a private school cannot say they will not pay the fees after the end of a relationship (provided they have the ability to pay).

Reason 4
The child has his or her own’s income or property. For example, the child is working or has received money from a grandparent via an inheritance.

Reason 5
A parent has already provided property or money to the child or carer. Iit is important not to confuse these payments with “specified payments” which are the payment of expenses for a child (such as some school fees) that can credit against periodic payments under the assessment.

Reason 6
Child care costs are high (ie more than 5% of your income).

Reason 7
A parent has out of the ordinary expenses necessary to support themselves for example; one of the parents may have particular medical costs.

Reason 8
The assessment is incorrectly made based on the income or assets of a parent including not considering a parent’s capacity to earn an income or the other parent’s income earning capacity is greater than in the assessment. This reason is intended to cover a situation where someone refuses to work at or to their full capacity in order to reduce their obligation to financially support their children.

Reason 9
There is a legal duty to support another person. eg. A step child. This must be a legal and not a moral duty. For example, there is no duty to support your parents but you do have a duty to support your current spouse.

Often parents do not want to involve the Department of Human Services in their financial arrangements for child support and it is possible to enter into private contracts about child support known as a Binding Child Support Agreement or Limited Child Support Agreement. A Binding Child Support Agreement requires independent legal advice of each parent and is a legal mechanism with limited capacity to be changed into the future (albeit the Binding Child Support Agreement can be for a limited or extended time period depending on the agreement and outcome parents wish to achieve). The relative certainty that a Binding Child Support Agreement offers is its key advantage.

A Limited Child Support Agreement does not require independent legal advice of each parent and is a legal mechanism with broader capacity to be changed into the future (albeit the Limited Child Support Agreement will only usually last for 3 years). The relative flexibility that a Limited Child Support Agreement offers is its key advantage.

Yes if you and the other parent agree.

A lump sum payment of child support defined in a Binding Child Support Agreement can fixend arrangements for child support between parents so far as is possible under the law as it stands. The lump sum will be calculated with reference to the assessed amount, age of the child and how the person receiving the lump sum will invest it before the child is 18 or finishes school.

Payments to a child from a trust established as a result of a “family breakdown” are assessed for income tax purposes at the usual marginal tax rates as opposed to the penalty tax rates for unearned income of a child. The income payments from such a trust can fund your child support obligation in a tax effective manner. These types of trust as know as a Child Maintenance Trust and this is one of the few advantages of family breakdown enabling potentially significant tax savings.

In the majority of situations the legal obligation to pay child support ends when a child turns 18 or finishes year 12 (whichever is the later date). However, the reality of many “children” over 18 is that they are living at one parent’s home whilst they complete their university or technical studies. The law recognises a financial duty to support adult children and can make a parent pay maintenance that is necessary to financially support a child over 18 that is completing his or her education.

Every situation is different but generally speaking the court has required parents to support children over 18 to the end of their first undergraduate university degree (or combined undergraduate degree). There can be special situations where financially supporting a child over 18 to complete his or her post graduate studies will be considered enabling that adult child to complete his or her education.

The relative financial circumstances of both parents are relevant to determining how much of a financial contribution both parents should make to the costs of the adult child. Either of: the adult child; or one of the parents can apply to the court to have it make an order for adult children maintenance.

As with children without special needs, the legal obligation to pay child support usually ends when a child turns 18 or finishes year 12 (whichever is the later date). However, the costs of children with special needs can continue for many years after this time. The law recognises a duty to support a child over 18 that has a physical or mental disability and can make a parent pay maintenance that is necessary to financially support that disabled child.

It does not matter whether the disability existed before the child was 18 or develops after the child is 18. It also does not matter that the parent being asked to pay money does not have a close or good relationship with the disabled adult child.

The relative financial circumstances of both parents are relevant to determining how much of a financial contribution both parents should make to the costs of the adult child. Either of: the adult child; or one of the parents can apply to the court to have it make an order for adult children maintenance.