CHILD SUPPORT AGREEMENTS

WHAT IS CHILD SUPPORT?

Child support (or child maintenance) is an ongoing, periodic payment made by a parent for the financial benefit of a child.

Child support payments can be transferred between parents by a private arrangement or by agreement. Alternatively, the parent who receives the payments can ask the Department of Human Services, Child Support Division (“the Department”) to collect the money on their behalf.

WHO PAYS CHILD SUPPORT?

Both parents have an obligation to financially support their children. It doesn’t matter whether the parents are separated, divorced or even if they never married or lived together. If parents do not live together then it is likely that one parent will be eligible to receive child support.

WHEN IS IT PAYABLE?

Child support is payable where:

the child’s parents do not live together on a genuine domestic basis;
the child is under the age of 18 years;
the child is not a member of a couple.

The child is a resident of Australia or the child and the parent eligible to receive child support are residents of a country from a reciprocating jurisdiction.

HOW DO I APPLY FOR CHILD SUPPORT?

The first step in working out the amount of child support to be paid is generally to approach the DHS for a child support assessment. The formula the Department uses is flexible enough to take into account different family circumstances such as:

costs of raising children
income of both parents
percentage of time each parent cares for the children.

It is likely that a parent will be required to pay child support, in circumstances where:

the other parent is the primary carer to the child/children; and/or
that parent’s income is more than the other parent’s income.

You can file for child support online or call the Department of Human Services.

HOW IS IT CALCULATED?

Child support is calculated using one of six formulas. You can find the Child Support Calculator here.

WHAT IS A CHILD SUPPORT AGREEMENT?

A child support agreement is a formal written agreement between parents about child support payments setting out the amount of child support to be paid to assist with the financial costs of raising their children following separation.

An agreement can take several forms. Parents may agree to the payment of cash or non-cash items, or a combination of both. Non-cash items may include:

health costs (such as health insurance and medical bills);
education costs;
extra-curricular costs;
other costs associated with care for children.

There are two types of Child Support Agreement:

Limited Child Support Agreements
Binding Child Support Agreements.

CAN COURT ORDER CHILD SUPPORT?

In limited circumstances, the Family Court or the Federal Circuit Court may make an order for child maintenance. For example, the court can make orders in relation to a child who is over 18 who has a mental or a physical disability or where a child is seeking further education.

In some circumstances, parents can obtain a child support departure order. When making departure orders, the Court will consider if:

there are grounds for departure from the child support assessment; and
whether it would be just and equitable or otherwise proper to make such orders.

There are a number of grounds of departure, such as high costs involved in enabling a parent to spend time or communicate with the children (for example, where the parents live far away from each other), or the costs of maintaining the child are significantly affected because of special needs of the child/children (for example such as medical needs). In some instances, the court may order the payment of private schooling (for example where the parents have agreed that the children should attend private schools). There are other grounds for making departure orders.

HOW CAN WE HELP?

For separating couples, coming to an agreement on child support can be a difficult process. From experience we find that approaching these issues with a basic knowledge of how the child support system operates can be of great assistance in working towards an arrangement both parties are happy with.