2. Child support agreements

2.1 Summary

Part 6 of the Assessment Act provides that parents can make a written child support agreement. There are extensive legislative changes to Part 6 of the Assessment Act from 1 July 2008.

Parents may wish to make agreements for a variety of reasons, including a desire for finality in separation proceedings, to reflect other property settlements, or to address their particular circumstances. A range of agreements can be made, either prescribing the amount of child support to be paid or altering elements of a continuing administrative assessment made by CSA. Agreements can also be made in relation to methods of paying child support (non-periodic and lump sum payments).

Chapter 4 deals with agreements that determine or alter the amount of child support to be paid. Information about non-periodic and lump sum payment provisions are contained in Chapter 5.

2.1 (a) Child support agreements made before 1 July 2008

Either parent can apply to CSA for a written agreement to be accepted (section 89). A written agreement is a child support agreement if it contains provisions of the type specified in section 84. If CSA accepts the agreement, it will amend the existing assessment to take into account relevant provisions (section 94). If there is no assessment in place, CSA will make a new assessment in accordance with the terms of the agreement (section 93). Acceptance of agreements is dependant on Centrelink approval for parents who receive more than the base rate of Family Tax Benefit Part A, and approval is usually subject to a requirement that the amount payable be at least as much as the formula amount.

Parents can make a child support agreement to supersede an earlier child support agreement (section 97) or to vary the effect of a prior court order that departs from their child support assessment (section 95(5)).

Child support agreements that are made and accepted before 1 July 2008 will be treated as a special class of binding agreement after 1 July 2008 (unless they must be ended because they use a particular element of the pre-July formula that cannot be administered after July, in which case the agreement will end on 30 June). For example, an agreement that modified the former child support percentage cannot remain in force after 1 July 2008 because the term child support percentage has a different meaning after that date. Agreements that will continue can still be ended by simple written agreement between the parents (that is, without legal advice) and the parents' entitlement to Family Tax Benefit Part A will be assessed on the child support received under the agreement.

Print this page Top of page