The Legal Practitioner's Guide
2.1 (b) Child support agreements made after 1 July 2008
After 1 July 2008, there are legislative provisions for two types of agreements that set
or alter the amount of child support to be paid:
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Binding child support agreements: Each party to the agreement must have received legal
advice before entering the agreement and must also receive legal advice before
terminating the agreement (section 80C). An administrative assessment does not need to
be in place before the agreement is accepted, except where the binding agreement
provides for the crediting of a lump sum (see chapter 5.1), The agreement can be set
aside by the court in very limited circumstances;
-
Limited child support agreements: Legal advice is not required to be obtained by the
parties prior to entering into a limited agreements. An administrative assessment must
be in place before a limited child support agreement can be accepted by CSA. The
annual rate of child support payable under the agreement must be at least the assessed
annual rate of child support (section 80E). Limited agreements are significantly
easier to end than binding agreements.
More specific information about each type of agreement is set out below.
The requirement to obtain Centrelink approval of child support agreements (both limited
and binding ) has been removed from 1 July 2008, but entitlement to Family Tax Benefit
Part A will be assessed on the amount of child support that would have been paid if the
agreement had not been made (see below).
A child support agreement, either binding or limited, must comply with the provisions of
section 82 (children in relation to whom agreements may be made); section 83 (persons who
may be parties to agreements); and section 84 (provisions that may be included in
agreements). The agreement must be signed by both parents and provided to the Registrar.
(Parents may sign identical copies rather than the same document.) A child support
agreement may also be part of a document that contains a parenting plan under the
Family Law Act 1975, subject to the requirements of Part 6 of the Assessment Act.
Child support agreements cannot be varied, although an agreement can be terminated and
its provisions incorporated by reference into a new agreement (section 80CA). Requirements
for the termination of agreements made after 1 July 2008 are substantially different from
requirements for agreements made prior to this date, and are set out for each type of
agreement below.