Effective until 30 June 2008
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| CSA's previous online law & policy guide Effective until 30 June 2008 |
2.5.1: What is a child support agreement?Context The Assessment Act sets out the requirements for a child support agreement. Legislative references Sections 12(4), Part 6 and Part 7 Child Support (Assessment) Act 1989 Explanation The Child Support legislation allows parents to reach agreement on the amount of child support to be paid. A child support agreement has to meet the requirements of the legislation and has to include matters that can be dealt with in a child support agreement. Once parents have made a child support agreement, either parent can apply to CSA to have it accepted. Children for whom child support agreements can be made People who can be parties to a child support agreement What can be in a child support agreement? Other requirements of an agreement Children for whom child support agreements can be made A child support agreement must be in relation to a child for whom an application for assessment can be made. A child support agreement can also deal with other children, but CSA will disregard those children for the purposes of the assessment (section 82). People who can be parties to a child support agreement A child support agreement must be between a person who is eligible to apply as a carer for an administrative assessment on the day the agreement is made and a person who is a parent of the child as well as a resident of Australia on the day the agreement is made. Other people can also be a party to an agreement, but CSA will disregard those people for the purposes of the assessment (section 83). CSA is not required to conduct any investigations or make any enquiries before making a decision on an agreement (section 91). A statement that a person is a parent, or is resident of Australia, will generally be accepted at face value. What can be in a child support agreement? A child support agreement can only be made in relation to specific matters listed in the Assessment Act. An agreement must contain at least one of the following:
CSA will disregard any other provisions in making an assessment (section 84(5)). A document that forms a parenting plan, maintenance agreement, or financial agreement, under the Family Law Act can also be an agreement for child support purposes if it contains at least one of the above types of provisions and complies with the other necessary requirements (section 85(7)). A single agreement can contain different provisions for different child support periods or different parts of child support periods (section 85(4)). Periodic amounts to be paid to the other person An agreement can provide for periodic amounts (regular amounts payable on a regular basis) to be paid to the other parent. Payments are made to a payee if the agreement specifies making payments:
A provision that requires the payer to make payments to a third party on behalf of the payee is not a provision for a periodic amount to be paid to the other parent. A provision of this kind provides for child support in a form other than periodic amounts paid to the other parent (see example below). Child support in a form other than periodic amounts paid to the other parent Where an agreement provides for child support to be paid otherwise than in the form of periodic amounts to the other parent it must state:
Example M agrees to pay school fees for C of $5000 per year. The fees are payable to XYZ College. M's annual rate of child support is to be reduced by $2500.
If an agreement does not specify how the agreed child support will be credited the child support under the agreement is be treated as being in addition to any child support liability under an assessment (section 84(8)). A provision to end a child support liability A child support liability, whether by agreement or formula assessment, can be ended by a child support agreement which provides for a liability to end from a specified day. The end date can be express or implied. When the specified day arrives CSA will end the assessment from that day (a 'terminating event' section 12(4)). (See Ending agreements) Other requirements of a child support agreement A child support agreement must be in writing, and signed by both parents (section 85). The parents can sign the same child support agreement, or each sign separate copies of a child support agreement. Where the parents each sign separate copies, the terms of each copy must be identical. A child support agreement does not need to have been made in Australia (section 86). If an agreement deals with more than one child, CSA will treat it as if it contains separate agreements for each of the children (section 87(1)). If an agreement provides that child support is to be paid by both parents, CSA will treat it as if it contains separate agreements by each of the parents (section 87(2)). Alterations and amendments Parents must sign identical documents to make a valid agreement. Any alterations must be initialled by both parents. If an alteration is not initialled, or is only initialled by one parent, CSA will contact the parents to confirm if the alteration was made before the agreement was signed. If so, the altered agreement is valid. If both parents want the alteration to an agreement to have effect but it was made after one, or both of them, signed the document, whoever signed before the alteration must sign again (and also initial any change). If either parent doesn't want the alteration to have effect CSA must decide whether they signed an identical document. If both parents signed an identical document before the alteration was made CSA can accept the original agreement without taking account of the alteration. If the alteration was made after the agreement was signed by one parent but before it was signed by the other, the parents did not sign the same document and there is no agreement between them. An order for a change to the assessment made by consent under Part 7 of the Assessment Act can sometimes contain notations, notes or annotations to draw attention to actions the parents have taken or will take in the future. Notations are not orders and cannot be registered or vary an assessment. However, they can form a child support agreement if:
A notation that says the parents intend to make a child support agreement is not a child support agreement. Example A notation that says 'the parents intend to enter into a child support agreement whereby M will meet all the costs of schooling for A and B in lieu of paying child support to F' is not a child support agreement, even if M and F both sign it.
A notation that says 'the parents agree that M will meet all the costs of schooling for A and B in lieu of paying child support to F' can be a child support agreement if M and F both sign it. Version 1.1 Issued 18 February 2003 |
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