Your child support assessment

After we register your case, we send you a child support assessment notice. If your case details change at any time, we’ll send you an updated or new assessment notice.

Your assessment notice has a lot of information to take in, so we’ve included the eight-step formula to help you understand how we’ve calculated your child support.

An example notice is shown below. For more information click on the links in the notice, check our frequently asked questions or call us on 131 272.

Your Child Support Assessment

Your reference number: 123 456 789 123/123456789

Issue date: 2 July 2008

The Child Support Agency (CSA) has calculated the annual amount of child support of $5,676 payable by Joseph CITIZEN to Ellie CITIZEN for the support of the children in this assessment.

Daily rate	$15.54004		Weekly rate	$108.78
Forthnightly rate	$217.56		Monthly rate	$473.00

Assessment period: 1 July 2008 to 31 September 2009

HOW YOUR CHILD SUPPORT IS CALCULATED

The amount of child support to be paid is based on a formula that considers both parents’ incomes, how much it cost to raise the children, and the level of care each parent provides.

We follow eight steps to calculate child support using a legislative formula - an explanation is below. For further information go to the CSA website www.csa.gov.au or refer to The Parent’s Guide to Child Support.

Steps 1 to 3: Income

The following income details were used in your assessment:

Joseph		Ellie
$50,000	Adjusted Taxable Income	$30,000
$18,252	less Self Support Amount	$18,252
$0	less Relevant Dependent Child Amount	$0
$0	less Multi-case Allowance	$0
$31,748	Child Support Income	$11,748
$43,496	Combined Child Support Income	$43,496
72.99%	Income percentage	27.01.%

Adjusted Taxable Income: the total of taxable income plus other income components: gross reportable fringe benefits total, target foreign income, net investment losses, some tax-free pensions or benefits and reportable superannuation contributions.
Self-Support Amount: the same amount deducted from each parent’s adjusted taxable income for their own support.
Relevant Dependent Child Amount: an amount set aside that recognises the care of a natural or adopted child living with you.
Multi-case Allowance: an amount set aside that recognises the responsibility for supporting your children in other child support assessments.
Child Support Income: used to calculate child support. This is each parent’s adjusted taxable income minus the self-support amount, minus allowances for relevant dependent children and children from other support assessments.

Here is the amount you pay or receive. Learn about payment options

This section explains how we work out how much you pay or receive

This section outlines the income information used to calculate your child support. Contact us if your circumstances have changed

Steps 4 to 5: Care and cost percentages

Based on the care information we have, we have assessed the level of care you have of the children. The care percentage is directly related to the number of nights you care for the children.

If you have 52 or more nights care a year, you are acknowledge as directly meeting some of the child’s costs through care - this is called the cost percentage. It reflects the costs you incur when you care for the child, for example accommodation, food and living expenses.

Joseph

for Paul, Joseph’s care percentage is 20% and his cost percentage is 24%
for Jack, Joseph’s care percentage is 20% and his cost percentage is 24%
for Kylie, Joseph’s care percentage is 20% and his cost percentage is 24%

Ellie

for Paul, Ellie’s care percentage is 80% and his cost percentage is 76%
for Jack, Ellie’s care percentage is 80% and his cost percentage is 76%
for Kylie, Ellie’s care percentage is 80% and his cost percentage is 76%

Steps 6: Child support percentage

Under the formula, we deduct the cost percentage (share of costs met directly) from the parent’s income percentage (share of cost to be met) to get the child support percentage (share of cost to transfer). The child support percentage is applied against the costs of the children (worked out at step 7) to arrive at the child support amount payable at step 8.

Steps 7: Cost of the children

The costs of the children are based on both parent’s incomes, number of children and ages of the children. For your assessment, the costs of the children have been calculated as follows:

Paul born 01/02/1998 (age range: under 13 years, a cost of $3861)
Jack born 30/05/1998 (age range: under 13 years, a cost of $3861)
Kylie born 23/08/1998 (age range: under 13 years, a cost of $3861)

Steps 8: Child support amount payable

The annual amount of child support that Joseph needs to pay Ellie is:

for Paul: $1892 - 48.99% (Child Support Percentage) multiplied by $3861 (Cost of the child)
for Jack: $1892 - 48.99% (Child Support Percentage) multiplied by $3861 (Cost of the child)
for Kylie: $1892 - 48.99% (Child Support Percentage) multiplied by $3861 (Cost of the child)

Joseph is required to pay Ellie an annual child support amount of $5,676. Ellie is required to pay Joseph an annual child support amount of $0.

Final annual Child Support Amount: Joseph is required to pay $5,676 to Ellie for the support of the children in this notional assessment The Child Support Agency will forward this assessment to the Family Assistance Office to enable them to calculate the correct rate for Family Tax Benefit you should receive.