1.1.2: Historical perspective
Prior to the introduction of CSA it was generally recognised that the system where child maintenance was dealt with by the courts was not working for the benefit of all separated parents and their children. For example:
- obtaining a court order was too expensive for many separated parents
- the courts were ordering consistently low levels of maintenance which did not reflect the capacity of parents to provide financial support for their children
- orders made by the courts could not be easily updated to take account of inflation or changes in the parents' capacity to pay
- it was difficult to enforce court orders. As a result, less than 30% of child maintenance was being paid
- there had been a rapid increase in the divorce rate with a corresponding increase in the number of parents receiving pensions.
In October 1986 the Federal Government proposed reform in 3 areas:
- enforcement of maintenance collection through the Australian Taxation Office
- use of a formula to determine the level of maintenance orders
- the application of this formula by an administrative process
Version 1.0
Issued 1 October 2002
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