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Overdue child support payments
We aim to make it easier for separated parents to support their children and to meet their child support responsibilities. Most parents want to do the right thing. However, some need extra support, education and advice.
If a parent doesn't meet their responsibilities, we will work with them to get the best outcome for their children and both parents.
If a parent misses multiple payments, we'll work with them to help them pay the overdue amount without causing undue hardship to them or the children.
Click on one of these topics for more information:
- Why would child support be overdue?
- What happens if you don't pay the overdue amount?
- How can overdue child support be recovered?
- Help and information
Why would child support be overdue?
There are a number of reasons why a child support payment is overdue:
- the payment was late or not paid
- there was a change to the assessment that caused arrears
- the receiving parent has asked us to collect arrears
- a court order.
Another reason for overdue child support is because you didn't tell us about a change to your circumstances, such as:
- your income
- care of your children
- the number of dependent children you have
- payments you made directly to the other parent
- sections in your court order or agreement that affect payments.
It's important that you tell us about any changes to your circumstances as soon as they happen because we may not be able to backdate the change.
If your circumstances change call us on 131 272.
Late payment penalties
If payments are not made in full and on time, penalties are applied to the original amount of child support. These penalties are paid to the Australian Government — not to us or the other parent. Penalties can be waived if the debt is paid in full. Contact us for more information.
What happens if you don't pay the overdue amount?
Consistently not paying overdue amounts will only make the problem worse. If you have missed a payment, you need to contact us and get back on track, so the problem doesn't get out of control.
When we talk to you, we'll consider your circumstances and come up with a manageable payment arrangement. If we can't come to an arrangement with you, we'll actively try to recover the overdue child support.
We follow this process when trying to recover overdue child support.
- Telephone the parent to discuss the outstanding payment, including giving them the chance to pay outstanding amounts voluntarily.
- Assess the parent's ability to pay and their attitude towards paying the outstanding amount.
- Confirm the arrangements to clear the outstanding payment.
- Discuss options for making ongoing payments and confirm arrangements.
- If the parent refuses to pay, we determine the best enforcement option based on previous behaviour, risk and available data.
How can overdue child support be recovered?
The legislation gives us powers to recover overdue child support through a number of ways, including:
- automatically deducting child support from your pay or income support payment
- working with banks to deduct money from your bank accounts
- working with third parties to pay the money to us on the paying parent's behalf
- intercepting tax return refunds
- stopping you from leaving the country
- taking you to court.
Help and information
If you have a question or concern about your child support, contact us on 131 272 or visit our website www.csa.gov.au for more information.
