By Alison Finch – Special Counsel
How much time your children spend with you affects how much child support you receive or pay, if you are paying child support as assessed by Child Support, Services Australia.
This is because Child Support calculates the rate of child support to be paid based on a formula which takes into account:
- Each parent’s taxable income.
- How much time the children spend with each parent.
- The “costs of the children”. These are not the actual costs of an individual family, rather an amount
specified by the government. The amount varies depending on the ages of the children and the combined child support income of the parents.
How does Child Support determine care levels where there is a dispute?
If you have Court Orders or a Parenting Plan in place, and you are following the Orders or Plan, Child Support will use the Orders or Plan to determine the care levels.
However, if you do not have Court Orders or a Parenting Plan in place, or you are not following the Orders or Plan, Child Support will base the child support assessment on the care arrangements reported by the parents.
So, if your children are spending more time with you than they were previously, you should contact Child Support as soon as possible, to advise them of the new care arrangement.
If you delay advising Child Support of a change to your care arrangements, you may not be able to get your assessment backdated to when the changes took place and you may miss out on an increased rate of child support.
What can I do if I do not agree with the care percentages recorded by Child Support?
If Child Support has accepted your former partner’s notification of care arrangements and you do not agree, you can seek a review.
A child support care decision can be reviewed by:
- An internal review by an objections officer within Services Australia, Child Support.
- An external review by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
What is an interim care determination?
An interim care determination allows you to continue to receive or pay child support as though the arrangements in the Court Orders or Parenting Plan are being followed, even if your former spouse is not following those arrangements.
The purpose of the interim care determination is to give you time to negotiate with your former partner to reinstate the care arrangements, or if you cannot negotiate, to go to court to enforce the arrangements.
How long are interim care determinations in place for?
Interim care determinations are put in place for limited periods.
For Parenting Plans, the interim care determination will be put in place for a maximum of:
- 4 weeks if the other parent agrees to attend mediation
- 14 weeks if the other parent does not agree to attend mediation.
For Court Orders, the interim care determination will be put in place:
- For a maximum of 52 weeks, if it is less than 12 months since the Court Orders were made
- Otherwise, for:
- 14 weeks if the other parent agrees to attend mediation
- 26 weeks if the other parent does not agree to attend mediation
To obtain the maximum interim care determination period you must satisfy Child Support that you are taking action to reinstate the parenting arrangements in the Parenting Plan or Court Orders.
Child support is a complex area of the law. To give yourself the best chance of success in any application, it is important to obtain legal advice early.
If you would like advice about child support matters or any other family law issues, please contact us on (03) 8672 5222 to arrange an appointment with one of our experienced lawyers.
