How to apply for a change of assessment in special circumstances

If you believe your child support assessment doesn’t reflect your, your children’s or the other parent’s special circumstances, you may be able to apply for a change of assessment.

What are special circumstances?
Special circumstances mean there’s something particular to your case. For example, if your child has special needs or you feel the original assessment didn’t fully consider the other parent’s income.

Your circumstances must fall within 10 reasons for a change to your child support assessment. Just being unhappy with your assessment is not a reason to apply. Check our website or call us on 131 272 first, to find out if a simpler option is available.

If you decide to apply, you need to fill in a form and explain why your assessment should be changed. When we get your application we’ll call and help you and the other parent determine what information may best inform our decision.

The 10 reasons and examples of what you should show us

There are 10 reasons for changing your assessment. You can apply under one or more, if appropriate. We appreciate you giving us as much information as possible to help inform our decision. Examples of the types of documents you can give us are below, but we can check them with you when we call.

Reason 1: your capacity to pay child support is significantly affected by the high costs of enabling you to spend time or communicate with your children.

The costs must be more than five per cent of your adjusted taxable income, which is shown on your assessment notice. These costs can include transport, accommodation and phone calls, but you can’t claim food, clothing or entertainment. If you care for your child at least 52 nights (or 14 per cent) of the year, travel is the only cost we can take into account.

What you can show us:

Reason 2: the costs of maintaining your child are significantly affected because of their special needs.

You can only claim out-of-pocket costs after taking off rebates, refunds or allowances. You can’t claim day-to-day expenses like food, clothing or normal/standard medical care.

What you can show us:

Reason 3: the costs of maintaining the child are significantly affected because the child is being cared for, educated or trained in the way both parents intended.

You and the other parent must have intended for your child to be cared for, educated or trained in a particular way - like attending a private school.

What you can show us:

Reason 4: the child support assessment is unfair because of your child's income, earning capacity, property or financial resources.

Your child must be earning enough to reduce the need for parental support. This doesn’t include their Centrelink payments.

What you can show us:

Reason 5: the child support assessment is unfair because you’ve paid or transferred money, goods or property to your child, the receiving parent or a third party for the child’s benefit.

This usually relates to a property transfer or a large lump sum payment directly to the other parent or another person for child support (for example, as part of a property settlement).

What you can show us:

If you’re thinking of using this reason, call us first on 131 272 to see if there’s a simpler option than a Change of Assessment.

Reason 6: the costs of maintaining your child are significantly affected by the parent or non-parent carer’s high child care costs and the child is under 12.

The costs must be more than five per cent of your adjusted taxable income if you’re a parent, or at least 25 per cent of the assessed costs if you’re a carer. The amount is shown on your assessment notice. You can only claim actual costs after taking off rebates, refunds or other assistance.

What you can show us:

Reason 7: your necessary expenses significantly affect your capacity to support your child.

You must tell us why the expenses are necessary and what makes them special or out of the ordinary. For example, you might have high medical costs.

What you can show us:

Reason 8: the child support assessment is unfair because of the income, earning capacity, property or financial resources of one or both parents.

You or the other parent can apply on the basis that financial circumstances are not properly recognised in the assessment.

What you can show us:

If your income has dropped by more than 15 per cent, you may be able to lodge an income estimate instead of applying for a change of assessment. To find out visit www.csa.gov.au and click on income estimate.

Reason 9: your capacity to support your child is significantly affected because of your legal duty to maintain another person or child.

A legal duty generally means you have a court order making you responsible to support someone. You may be paying costs for another child, spousal maintenance or supporting a partner living with you who can’t support themselves.

What you can show us:

Reason 10: your responsibility to support a resident child significantly reduces your capacity to support your child.

What you can show us:

Help completing the form
Call us on 131 141 if you’d like more information or help to fill in the application form. You can also find the form online at www.csa.gov.au

Will the other parent see my application?

Yes, copies of the application and all supporting documents will be given to the other parent. They have the right to respond or make a cross-application and you’ll get a copy of this information. We won’t give the other parent your personal information contained in the Privacy Section of your application. You must ensure you don’t include private/personal information (such as your phone number or address) in any accompanying or supporting documentation. This must be sent to the other parent.

Information that you provided to the court about your own affairs may be provided in support or your Change of Assessment application or response.

The Child Support Agency cannot use court documents or information relating to the other party that was provided by that other party during a court proceeding.  However, you may be able to use documents or information provided in the Family Court of Australia, the Family Court of Western Australia or the Federal Magistrates Court where:

1. you have obtained the consent of the other party for the CSA to use that information for child support purposes.  We will need to confirm that consent; OR

2. the court has made an order that the documents/information can be released from any implied undertaking or duty or Court rule relating to their non-disclosure; OR

3. the legal representatives involved in your family law proceedings have provided a letter stating that the document/information was used in open court.

If none of the above criteria are satisfied, please do not provide the court documents with your Change of Assessment application or response.

Please ring CSA to find out more.

What happens now?

When you’ve completed the application, send it to:

PO Box 9815
Melbourne VIC 3001

The change of assessment process can involve sharing a lot of information with the other parent. A Senior Case Officer will call you and the other parent to talk about the application and the response.

At the end of the process you and the other parent will get a written Notice of Decision from us. This will explain whether the assessment has changed.

What if I disagree with the decision?

When you get the Notice of Decision, it’s possible you’ll disagree with it. In some cases we may even make a decision that’s the opposite of the change you asked for. For example, you might ask for an assessment to be decreased but we find the circumstances mean there should be an increase. This is called a contrary decision.

If you’re not sure about the Notice of Decision or think the information may be wrong, call the Change of Assessment team on 131 141. This gives you and the CSA a chance to discuss any misunderstandings as well as your review options.