The Legal Practitioner's Guide
Precedents for child support agreements and court orders
New legislation post 1 July 2008
The Legal Practitioner's Guide has been fully revised in a new edition to take account of
the changes to legislation governing agreements, the formula, departure provisions, and
court orders from 1 July 2008. The new legislation will apply to agreements lodged with the
CSA and applications made for court orders from 1 July 2008.
Foreword
The Legal Practitioner's Guide is a joint project of the Family Law Council, the
Family Law section of the Law Council of Australia, and the Child Support Agency (CSA).
It provides precedents for court orders and child support agreements made under the
Child Support (Assessment) Act 1989 (the Assessment Act).
The first edition of this Guide was published in November 2004, and it has been a
resource highly valued by child support practitioners. The Child Support Scheme reforms
have brought extensive legislative changes, including new provisions concerning
agreements and court orders. This revised edition has been produced to assist
practitioners in the new environment. It covers a range of common situations, with
suggested terms and tips and problems for parents and the drafter to consider.
By using the Legal Practitioner's Guide, family law practitioners can make sure
that a court order or agreement reflects the parents' intentions and can readily be
administered by CSA. It will also assist them in helping their clients to obtain court
orders and to enter agreements that properly balance their wish for finality and their
need for flexibility, while providing their children with a proper level of financial
support.
Information about the development of the new policy and the Ministerial Taskforce that
reviewed the existing Child Support Scheme can be found at
www.fahcsia.gov.au.
Professor John Wade
Chair
Family Law Council
Ian Kennedy
Chair
Family Law Section, Law Council of Australia
Matt Miller
General Manager
Child Support Agency
© Commonwealth of Australia 2008
This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968
, no part may be reproduced by any process without prior written permission from the
Commonwealth available from the Department of Communications, Information Technology and
the Arts. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed
to the Commonwealth Copyright Administration, Copyright Law Branch, Attorney-General's
Department, Robert Garran Offices, National Circuit, Barton ACT 2600, or posted at
http://www.ag.gov.au/cca.
Disclaimer
Every care has been taken in preparing this booklet and it is intended as a guide only.
The information contained within this booklet is current as of 22 February 2008.
For more information, visit these websites:
www.ag.gov.au
www.csa.gov.au
www.fahcsia.gov.au
www.familylawsection.org.au
CSA1174.03.08