Child Support Scheme Facts and Figures 1998-99
Comments on this paper are welcomed and should be addressed to:
| Phil Alchin Family and Children Branch Department of Family and Community Services Athllon Drive TUGGERANONG ACT 2900 E-mail: phil.alchin@facs.gov.au |
Allan Shephard Senior Research Officer Client Research Unit Child Support Agency Department of Family and Community Services 40 Cameron Avenue BELCONNEN ACT 2617 E-mail: allan.shephard@csa.gov.au |
Child Support Scheme - Key Facts and Figures
| Support for Children | 1996-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-99 | |
|
|
||||
| Child Support transfers: | ||||
| CSA Collect | $458.0m | $526.4m | $571.3m | |
| Private Collect | $533.5m | $636.5m | $727.9m | |
| Total | $991.5m | $1,162.9m | $1,299.2m | |
| CSA collection performance since inception: | 81.00% | 83.50% | 85.21% | |
| Total collections | $2 209.1m | $2 761.3m | $3 357.5m | |
| Total liabilities | $2,725.7m | 3,305.6m | 3,940.4m | |
| Average weekly liabilities per case: | ||||
| Stage 1 CSA collect | $53.90 | $53.62 | $53.99 | |
| Stage 1 Private collect | $53.90 | $52.29 | $51.03 | |
| Stage 2 CSA collect | $84.21 | $81.27 | $94.93 | |
| Stage 2 Private collect | $106.12 | $103.25 | $107.14 | |
|
|
||||
| Support for Parents | ||||
|
|
||||
| CSA Caseload: | 448 045 | 494 534 | 535 569 | |
| %CSA Collect | 59.29% | 57.56% | 55.99% | |
| %Private Collect | 40.71% | 42.44% | 44.01% | |
| %Stage 1 Court Orders | 12.20% | 10.30% | 8.59% | |
| %Stage 2 Formula Assessment | 87.80% | 89.70% | 91.41% | |
| Children whose parents have or are now taking Reasonable Maintenance Action to ensure eligibility for Family Allowance | 855,923 | 920,443 | 970,439 | |
| CSA client numbers: | ||||
| Payers | n/a | n/a | 507,272 | |
| Payees | n/a | n/a | 506,692 | |
| Total | n/a | n/a | 1,013,964 | |
| Legal Services Funding | $3.99m | $4.93m | $7.64m | |
| Total saving to Government outlays | $318.30m | $378.30m | $419.20m | |
|
|
||||
| CSS Saving & Costs to Government | ||||
|
|
||||
| Net savings after Scheme costs are subtracted | $144.50m | $190.64m | $228.60m | |
| Scheme costs by agency: | ||||
| CSA | $160.58m | $169.70m | $180.11m | |
| FaCS | $8.57m | $10.43m | $2.70m | |
| AGD | $4.65m | $7.53m | $7.83m | |
| Dollars collected by CSS for each dollar spent | $5.70 | $6.20 | $6.81 | |
| CSS Cost to collect each dollar | 17.5cents | $16.1cents | 14.7cents | |
This paper is the third edition of Child Support Scheme Facts and Figures. The first edition dealing with 1996-97 data for the Scheme was released in 1998. This is an annual publication released jointly by the agencies and departments with responsibilities under the Child Support Scheme.
1.0 A Brief Overview and History of the Australian Child Support Scheme
1.1 The Aims of the Child Support Scheme
The Australian Child Support Scheme was introduced in 1988 to "strike a fairer balance between public and private forms of support [for children] to alleviate the poverty of sole parent families."1 The Scheme aims to ensure that:
- parents share in the cost of supporting their children according to their capacity;
- adequate support is available to all children not living with both parents;
- Commonwealth involvement and expenditure is limited to the minimum necessary for ensuring children's needs are met;
- work incentives for both parents to participate in the labour force are not impaired; and
- the overall arrangements are non-intrusive to personal privacy and are simple, flexible and efficient.2
1 Cabinet Sub-Committee on Maintenance, Child
Support: discussion paper on child maintenance (1986), p.14.
2 An examination of the operation and effectiveness of the Child
Support Scheme, Government Response to the Report by the Joint Select Committee
on Certain Family Law Issues, November 1997, p.3.
1.2 A Brief History of the Child Support Scheme
Prior to the introduction of the Child Support Scheme, child support could only be obtained by the parents reaching an agreement or by seeking an order from a court. This meant that childr support was effectively denied to those parents who could not reach an agreement with their former partner and could not afford to take court action.
Even where court orders were obtained, the child support amounts ordered were low.3 Court orders were also inflexible. For example, many did not allow for inflation or for periods of unemployment. Court orders were also difficult and costly to amend. Child support compliance prior to the introduction of the Child Support Scheme was poor. It was estimated that only one third of parents in Australia who were ordered to pay child support did so regularly. The only remedy available to parents wanting to enforce child support payments was to seek an enforcement order through a court. This was costly and time-consuming. Enforcement orders were also largely ignored by defaulting parents.
The low level of payments ordered and the low rate of payment was in part responsible for falling living standards for sole parent families. This resulted in an increasing share of social welfare payments being directed to these families. In October 1986 the then Federal Government decided to implement a new child support system. Reform was implemented in two stages.
Stage 1 was introduced by the Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988. This Act gave the Commissioner of Taxation the responsibility, as Child Support Registrar, for collecting child support payments in respect of court orders and court-registered agreements. This collection is undertaken on application from the parent entitled to receive child support.
Stage 2 was introduced by the Child Support (Assessment) Act 1989. This Act established a further responsibility on the Child Support Registrar to administratively assess child support using a formula based on the income of both parents, and therefore their capacity to pay. Stage 2 applies only to parents who separated on or after 1 October 1989, or who have a child born on or after that date. The most recent legislative changes to the Child Support Scheme include:
- families can claim 50 per cent of any child support paid as a deduction from household income for Family Allowance purposes;
- the introduction of a minimum child support liability of $260 a year;
- an increase in the exempt income amount of child support payers;
- lowering the disregarded income amount for child support payees;
- allowing high child care costs as a reason for change of assessment for payees;
- the transfer of many existing clients with satisfactory payment records to private collect arrangements;
- assessment based on current year of income;
- greater flexibility in Non-Agency Payments (NAPs).
The impact of these changes will be reflected in future editions of Child Support Scheme Facts and Figures.
3 Court and privately agreed maintenance payments averaged between $10 and $30 per week. These low levels of maintenance were largely the result of the practice of setting maintenance at a level that would not affect the custodian's entitlement to the sole parent pension. Child Support Scheme. An examination of the operation and effectiveness of the scheme, Joint Select Committee on Certain Family Law Issues, Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia, November 1994, p.12.
1.3. The Child Support Formula
The CSA uses a formula to calculate the amount of child support to be paid. The basic formula is varied where the care of the children is shared, or where the payee has income greater than average weekly earnings (AWE). Some changes to the formula occurred from 1 July 1999, so this section details the way the formula worked before 1 July 1999 and from that date.
1.3.1 The Formula Until 30 June 1999
Up until 30 June 1999 the formula was used in the following way:
-
The liable parent's taxable income:
1. Less an allowance for living expenses and for each natural or adopted dependent child living with the liable parent;
2. Less the custodian's excess income over average weekly earnings (allowance was made for child care costs). After making these deductions a percentage of the remaining income was paid as support. The percentage varied according to the number of children:
The basic formula used to assess the annual rate of child support was:
{ (A - B) - C } x D = E
Where:
A is the child support income amount (taxable income)
B is the exempted income amount
C is the amount of payee income above the disregarded income amount
D is the child support percentage
E is the amount payable by the payer
Taxable income used in the child support formula was the income shown on the payer's tax return for the financial year before last. For child support purposes the maximum taxable income used in the formula in 1998-99 was $96,968.
An uplift factor was applied to the taxable income amount to adjust for changes in salary and wages levels. In 1998-99 this factor was 1.040.
A payer's exempt income was an allowance for living expenses and was deducted before the child support percentage was applied. It was based on the single rate of social security pension. If the payer had care of other natural or adopted children, the exempt amount was increased to twice the married pension rate plus an allowance for each child depending on their age (see Table 1.2).
If the payee's income was more than the disregarded income amount4 the payer's liability was reduced. The payee's disregarded income amount is that part of the payee's income below AWE, plus an allowance for each child under 12 years of age.
If either parent's income had decreased by 15 per cent or more since the relevant year of income, they could apply for the assessment to be varied to reflect their current income, they could apply for the assessment to be varied to reflect their current income.
4 The "disregarded income amount" recognises that the carer makes a significant contribution to the care of the children covered by the assessment. See Appendix 2 for more details.
1.3.2 The Formula From 1 July 1999
From 1 July 1999 the following changes were made to the child support formula.
Rental losses and exempt foreign employment income are now added back into the
liable parent's taxable income. Secondly, if a carer's child support income
amount exceeds their disregarded income amount, then the liable parent's
adjusted income amount is reduced by 50 per cent of the carer's excess income
for the period concerned. Thirdly, during the course of 1999-2000 the uplift
factor is also being progressively phased out as liabilities are reassessed
using the last year of income rather than income based on the second last year.
1.4 Administrative Arrangements Between the Child Support Agency, the Department of Social Security/ Department of Family and Community Services and the Attorney-General's Department
Until October 1998 the Child Support Scheme was administered by the Child Support Agency, the Department of Social Security and the Attorney-General's Department.
In October 1998, however, it was announced the CSA would be removed from the Australian Taxation Office and become part of the new Commonwealth Department of Family and Community Services (FaCS). As a result of these changes the Scheme partners are now the Department of Family and Community Services, incorporating the CSA and the Attorney-General's Department.
1.4.1 The Child Support Agency
The Child Support Agency was created toadminister the Child Support
(Registration and Collection) Act 1988 and the Child Support
(Assessment) Act 1989 on behalf of the Registrar.
The role of the CSA is to register cases on application from the parent entitled to receive child support, to assess child support payable (Stage 2 cases only) and collect payments where requested. The CSA also provides an information service for its clients on child support matters. These activities are undertaken in Branch Offices (currently 19) around Australia. Within the next 6 months the CSA will also have a presence in 20 Centrelink offices in regional Australia as a result of the Regional Service Centres initiative.5
The CSA has access to taxation information to enable efficient assessment and collection of child support.
1.4.2 The Department of Family and
Community Services
The Commonwealth Department of Family and Community Services (FaCS) has taken
over the Child Support Scheme responsibilities of the Department of Social
Security. It has a general responsibility to advise the government on matters
relating to income support and social welfare policy, including child support.
It has two main roles in the administration of the Child Support Scheme:
- strategic policy development, analysis and research; and
- ensuring appropriate linkages between income support and child support.
In relation to the latter, Centrelink undertakes the following:
- ensuring applicants for more than the minimum rate of Family Allowance take reasonable action to obtain child support; and
- adjusting family allowance payments to individuals in receipt of child support payments.
Centrelink has 450 customer service and call centres across Australia. It makes an estimated 300 million contacts per annum with over 5.6 million customers.6
CSA and Centrelink are working together to enhance service delivery to mutual clients. Centrelink accepts child support applications, and from late December 1998 has transmitted these electronically to the CSA.
1.4.3 The Attorney-General's Department
The Attorney-General's Department (AGD) has a general responsibility to advise
the Government on matters relating to family law. The Department also provides:
- legal advice and representation for the Child Support Agency; and
- Legal Aid support to eligible parents under the Child Support Scheme.
1.5 How the Child Support Scheme Works
Australian families may make child support arrangements in one of three ways:
- an entirely private arrangement between the parents which includes cases where child support is not sought - Self-Administration;
- registration with the Child Support Agency but with payment made directly between the parents - Private collect; or
- registration and collection by the Child Support Agency - CSA collect.
Registration with the CSA can proceed on the application of either parent, however only the payee can apply for child support to be collected. The application can be to register a court order, a child support agreement or for the CSA to issue an administrative assessment. However, from 1 July 1999 a parent liable to pay child support was also able to apply to the CSA for administrative assessment.
Where CSA collection is required, payers can make payments directly to the CSA. Alternatively, child support can be deducted from a payer's salary or wages in much the same way that income tax is deducted.
Where a payment is not made and the CSA is unable to come to a voluntary payment arrangement with the payer, the Registrar has a range of administrative enforcement powers available, including:
- deduction from salary and wages (51% or $293.20 million of all CSA collections were paid this way in 1998-99);
- interception of income tax refunds (9% or $48.74 million of all CSA collections were paid this way in 1998-99);
- collection of monies owed to the defaulting parent from third parties under Section 72A, e.g. accessing funds in savings accounts, superannuation funds and solicitors' trust accounts.
In addition, debts can be pursued through the courts to seek orders for sale of assets and property, or debts can be pursued by instituting bankruptcy proceedings.
2.0 Child Support in the Department of Family and Community Services
Centrelink and CSA have mutual clients primarily as a result of the Maintenance Action Test. As mentioned in section 1.4.2, Family Allowance customers who have children from a previous relationship must take reasonable action to obtain child support. A high proportion of applications for registration with the CSA therefore come from Centrelink. Reasonable action for Stage 2 customers means lodging an application for assessment under the child support formula and either:
- having the payments collected by the CSA; or
- privately collecting 100% of the assessed amount; or
- lodging a child support agreement that meets 100% of the assessed amount.
2.2 Maintenance Action Being Taken by FaCS Child Support Customers
Maintenance action is recorded by Centrelink for each child because in some cases a parent may have different maintenance action in progress for different children where for instance, the children have different fathers. The following is a summary of maintenance action being taken on behalf of children of FaCS Family Allowance customers. At June 1999:
- a total of 87.8% of children of FaCS Family Allowance customers had maintenance action completed on their behalf. This means these cases were registered with the CSA or an application had been lodged;
- a further 3.7% had "action in progress" which includes those where the customer is deciding what action to take or is awaiting the outcome of legal action (e.g. to determine (parentage);
- another 7.2% of children of FaCS Family Allowance customers were granted an exemption; and
- the remaining 1.3% of children of FaCS customers at that time did not have reasonable maintenance action requirements met on their behalf.
Based on the figures in Table 2.1 and the chart above, it can be seen that reasonable maintenance action requirements have been met for about 95% (87.8% "complete" plus 7.2% "exempted") of children of FaCS child support customers. In addition, about 3.7% are in the process of taking appropriate action. In fact, at June 1999, only 1.3% of children did not have reasonable maintenance action requirements met on their behalf and in many cases this can be a temporary situation.
3.0 Caseload
3.1 Active Caseload7 at June 1999
As at June 1999 there were 535,569 active cases. Some 8.6 per cent (45,986) were Stage 1 active cases, and 91.4 per cent (489,583) were Stage 2 active cases.8 Each case has two CSA clients - the payer and the payee. There is some overlap as some payers and some payees are involved in more than one case. As a result the CSA had over 1 million clients by June 1999.
7 "Active Cases" include Stage 1 and Stage 2 cases that are registered and liabilities are being collected, where processing is not finalised, and cases that have been assessed but where the liability is being collected privately.
3.2 Caseload Growth by Stage and Payment Arrangement
The Stage 1 active caseload has been declining since 1993. This will continue as the children in Stage 1 move out of the child support eligible population. The trends in both Stage 1 and Stage 2 caseloads are reflected in Table 3.1 and Chart 3.1. Chart 3.1 shows growth in active cases has slowed over the past five years. Between June 1993 and June 1994 the active caseload grew by an average of 5,550 cases per month. Between July 1998 and June 1999, however, the growth in the active caseload slowed to an average of 3,420 cases per month.
Chart 3.2 shows there has been a slowdown in the growth of both CSA collect and Private collect cases but growth in CSA collect cases has slowed at a faster rate than Private collect case growth. The reduction in the percentage of CSA collect cases (see Table 3.2 and Chart 3.3 overleaf) is consistent with the Government's aim to ensure arrangements are non-intrusive to personal privacy.
8 Child Support Agency Monthly Performance Report for June 1999 (CS5), p. 9.
Table 3.3 and Chart 3.4 show the assessment types by CSA collect and Private collect arrangements. The majority of assessments are formula based. Private collect arrangements are about 1.7 times more likely to be based on agreements than CSA collect arrangements (6.13% as opposed to 3.62%). Collect cases are almost six times more likely to have a liability that is based on a change of assessment from the formula than Private collect cases (5.24% to 0.89%).
Table 3.4 above compares circumstances other than "sole" care. "Major" care is defined as having daily care of the children for between 60-70% of the year. "Shared" care is having daily care of the children for between 40-60% of the year, and "Substantial" contact is having daily care for between 30-40 % of the year.
The table indicates that care arrangements other than "sole" are a small minority of cases in both groups. However, Private collect percentages for cases with "shared" and "major" care codes are almost twice that of CSA collect cases.
4.0 Client Overview by Payment Arrangement and Stage
As at June 1999 there were 535,569 active cases recorded on the Child Support System. However, a number of clients are involved in more than one case, meaning that there are fewer payees or payers than there are cases. The number of payers and payees involved in multiple cases are recorded in Tables 4.1 and 4.2.
Tables 4.1 and 4.2 show that over 96% of payers and payees are involved in just one case. About 3.5% of payers and payees are involved in two cases, while just 0.2% of all payers and payees are involved in three or more cases.
Where clients are involved in multiple cases there are more complex rules for applying the formula. This is best demonstrated through several examples. Where a payer must pay for one child in two Stage 2 cases the child support percentage for two children (i.e. 27%) is applied and then divided by two so that each case receives 13.5% of the child support income amount. Where a payee cares for say one child in two separate Stage 2 cases, the payee receives 18% of the child support income amount from each of the payers. Where a payer has a Stage 1 and a Stage 2 case the payer must apply to the CSA for a change of assessment to take the Stage 1 case into consideration as the formula cannot take account of such a circumstance.
The following tables record the number of "eligible children" and the number of "relevant dependent children" under Stage 2 of the Child Support Scheme.
4.2.1 Children Covered by Child Support
Assessments (Stage 2)
Cases registered with the CSA as at 30 June 1998 9 accounted for a total of
701,115 children. Children who are eligible to be included in a child support
case are:
- children who were born on or after 1 October 1989; or
- children whose parents separated on or after 1 October 1989; or
- children who have a sibling born on or after 1 October 1989. The child must also be under 18, not married or in a de facto relationship, not adopted by someone else and either an Australian citizen or resident or present in Australia on the day of application.
Table 4.3 records the number of children covered by child support assessments by CSA collect and Private collect groups. There is little difference in the distribution of eligible children between CSA collect and Private Collect cases. For example, 58 per cent of CSA collect cases have one eligible child, while 54 per cent of Stage 2 Private collect cases have one eligible child. There are up to two eligible children in 88 per cent of Agency Collect cases and 87 per cent in Private collect cases. There are up to three children in 97 per cent in both CSA collect and Private collect cases.
4.2.2 Payers' Subsequent Families
Formula assessments make allowance for "relevant dependent children" of the
payer. These are children under the age of 18 years who are the natural or
adopted child of a parent and that parent is the sole or principal provider of
ongoing daily care for the child, or has major care of the child.
The impact of the presence of relevant dependent children is to increase the payer's exempt income amount to twice the married pension rate, plus an allowance, depending upon the age of the child. Almost 12 per cent of all cases are adjusted for relevant children and are recorded in Table 4.4.
4.3 Number and Gender of Parents
Table 4.5 and Table 4.6 show payer and payee gender by payment arrangement. Table 4.3 shows that 91.7 per cent of CSA collect payers are male and 8.2 per cent are female. Furthermore, 91.2 per cent of all Private collect payers are male and 8.7 per cent are female.
Table 4.6 shows that 8.0 per cent of CSA collect payees are male and 92.0 per cent of CSA collect payees are female. Furthermore, 8.5 per cent of Private collect payees are male and 91.4 per cent are female.
Table 4.7 breaks the total active caseload into age of cases by calendar years for Stage 1 and Stage 2 cases. Age data relates to the year that the case was registered. The bulk of Stage 1 cases are between 6 and 10 years old while the majority of Stage 2 cases are under 6 years old.
4.5 Income of Stage 2 Payers and Payees
Tables 4.8, 4.9, 4.10 and 4.11 compare payer and payee median taxable incomes by CSA collect and Private collect arrangements from the Tax Returns Data Base (TRDB) and the Child Support System (CSS). These incomes are taxable income amounts, not gross income. Taxable deductions have therefore been deducted from the income, and exempt income such as rent assistance and family payments have not been included.
Some parents are exempted from lodging an income tax return where their income is received from Centrelink and/or they have informed the ATO they are not required to lodge, and the ATO agrees (see notes to Tables 4.9 and 4.11 for numbers of non-lodgers).
The tables show that payer median taxable incomes are significantly greater than the median taxable income of payees. Payees from Private collect and CSA collect payment arrangements have similar median incomes but payers in Private collect arrangements have significantly higher median child support incomes than those in CSA collect arrangements.
4.6 Income Sources of CSA Payers
Table 4.12 (over) shows the source of income for payers who lodged tax returns. It shows the numbers of payers who earned some or all of their income from these different sources. One payer may have earned income from a number of these categories.
The most common source of income for payers who lodged tax returns was salary and wages, with 85 per cent of all payers deriving some or all of their income from this source. By comparison just under 22 per cent of all payers received some or all of their income from Government benefits and allowances.
Table 4.13 shows the number of payers who earned some or all of their income from the sources noted in the table. Total, rather than taxable, income is used. The table shows that 186,934 payers earned between 91 and 100 per cent of their income from salary and wages. Also, 20,562 payers derived between 1 and 10 per cent of their income from Government benefits and allowances. Included in Table 4.13 is a row with below zero earnings. These are achieved when a positive income amount is countered by a larger negative total income. Negative incomes are achieved when more is spent making the income than is achieved from it: in other words it is a loss. Until 30 June 1999 a negative taxable income would result in a taxpayer with a child support liability having that liability reduced to nil.
5.0 Program Outcomes
The following liability statistics are broken down by CSA collect and Private collect.
5.1.1 Nil Liabilities and Above Nil
Liabilities by CSA and Private Collect
Until 30 June 1999 where a liability calculated under the formula was less than
$260 per year payers were not required to pay child support. However from 1
July 1999 a minimum liability of $260 per year applies to many previous "nil
liability" cases. Table 5.1 shows the proportion of payers with a nil liability
and an above nil liability by CSA collect and Private collect. As at 30 June
1999 there were 192,024 cases with nil liabilities, or 36.4 per cent of all
active cases. About 42 per cent of all CSA Collect cases had nil liabilities
and 30 per cent of Private Collect cases also had nil liabilities. The Agency
is aware that there was a significant increase in the number of cases with a
nil liability during 1998-99. The reasons for this are currently being
examined.
A nil liability usually only applies to Stage 2 cases. However, Stage 1 court orders can also have a nil liability when a clause has been written into the order by the court that the payer will not have to pay child maintenance during periods of unemployment. Furthermore, the payer can apply to the CSA not to enforce the court order during periods of unemployment under section 37B of the Child Support Registration and Collection Act.
Table 5.2 shows the percentage of CSA collect payers and Private collect payers (active cases) within specified liability ranges, while Chart 5.1 plots those percentages. The table and chart demonstrate that:
- a smaller proportion of Private collect cases have nil liabilities than CSA Collect cases; and
- a higher proportion of CSA Collect payers have liabilities under $4,000. A slightly higher proportion of Private collect payers have liabilities of between $4,000 and $14,000, which is in line with the data presented in Tables 4.6 and 4.7 on page 18, indicating that payers' median incomes are significantly higher in Private collect cases.
5.1.2 Average Child Support Liabilities
Table 5.3 records the average daily and weekly child support liabilities for
Stage 1 CSA collect and Private collect cases and Stage 2 CSA collect and
Private collect cases. The table reveals that the average weekly liability for
Stage 1 CSA collect and Private collect cases is similar. There is, however, a
difference of just over $12 per week between the average Stage 2 CSA collect
($94.93 per week) and the average Private collect ($107.14 per week) cases.
Table 5.4 outlines the total average weekly liability for Stage 2 CSA collect and Private Collect cases based upon the number of eligible children. In most cases the average liabilities of the Private collect cases are higher than the average liabilities for Stage 2 CSA collect cases.
5.2.1 Total Credits and Liabilities
Table 5.5 shows total liabilities and all credits since 1988. As at June 1991 a
total of $283 million in liabilities had been registered for payers, and $185
million had actually been collected. In other words CSA collections represented
65 per cent of all liabilities. By June 1999 CSA collect cumulative liabilities
had risen to $3,940.4 million, and collections were up to $3,357.5 million, or
an 85.2 per cent collection rate.
The liabilities and collections in the above mentioned table are also depicted in Chart 5.2. Total liabilities are represented by the white bars, while the credits are recorded in the black bars. Running across the top of the chart are the credit amounts as a percentage of all liabilities.
Chart 5.3 shows the total Private Collect liabilities for 1993-94 to 1998-99. The CSA assumes that the collection rate is 100 per cent of liabilities as payees are able to request collection by the CSA where the payer fails to meet their obligation.
5.2.2 Liabilities and Current Year Debt -
CSA collect Cases
Table 5.6 shows the percentage of payers' liability as debt. It compares the
total liability of the case since its inception, to the amount of debt the case
has accumulated since its inception. For example the table shows that 66,443
payers (or 38.7% of all CSA collect payers) had paid all of their child support
liability i.e. they had no debt. Furthermore, the table shows that 96,290
payers (or 56.1% of all CSA collect payers) had a cumulative debt that was 10%
or less of their total liability. The third and fourth columns in the table
provide cumulative totals of the data in the first two columns.
Where a payer has a prior year debt, current payments are attributed to that debt until that arrears amount has been discharged. Once the debt has been met, all future payments are then subtracted from the current year liability.
5.2.3 Collections and NAPs - CSA collect
Cases
Non-Agency Payments (NAPs) are payments made in lieu of child support directly
to the payee or a third party by the payer instead of to the CSA. These
payments might include money or the payment of medical bills, schools fees etc.
Table 5.7 shows cash, NAPs and Total Collections for each year since 1992.
5.2.4 Debt - CSA collect Cases
Table 5.8 and Chart 5.4 record Scheme arrears amounts as at the end of the last
six financial years.
6.0 Legal Services Overview
The Child Support Scheme Legal Services Program aims to provide information to low income parents (particularly Department of Family and Community Services customers) about their rights and responsibilities under the Child Support Scheme. These legal services assist with legal advice, information, minor assistance, and, when appropriate, legal representation to ensure that children with separated parents benefit from the Child Support Scheme.
Legal Aid Commissions in each State and Territory, and thirteen specialist Community Legal Services located throughout Australia, provide services to parents eligible to receive child support (carer parents) and parents responsible for paying child support (liable parents).
The following activities are undertaken by legal services on behalf of carer parents:
- assistance in preparing and completing legal documents;
- obtaining court orders;
- advising self-representing clients about what is involved in attending court;
- assistance with establishing proof of parentage;
- assisting clients interpret child support documents from other government bodies;
- assisting stage 2 clients understand the change of assessment process; and
- court representation as appropriate.
In addition to the above activities for carer parents, a number of specific activities are undertaken on behalf of liable parents including:
- assisting clients understand their rights of appeal under the change of assessment arrangements;
- assisting clients interpret their child support obligations;
- assisting with preparing and completing legal documents;
- advising self-representing clients about what is involved in attending court;
- court representation as appropriate.
The Child Support Agency also actively supports clients by liaising directly with the legal service providers to resolve child support issues. The Child Support Agency also refers clients to independent legal services as appropriate, to ensure that clients are fully informed and have access to legal advice and information.
In the 1998-99 financial year, approximately $6,420,000 was paid to child support units within legal aid commissions. In addition to this, approximately $1,220,000 was paid to Community Legal Services to assist child support clients.
6.2 Statistics and Advice Work Types
6.2.1 Legal Aid Commission Statistics
During 1998-99 Legal Aid Commissions recorded the following child support
related activities:
| Applications11 | |
| received | 3281 |
| approved | 3265 |
| refused | 94 |
| finalised | 3069 |
11 Data is continually updated and in any financial year some work is carried across from the previous year. This means that the number of applications approved for assistance, and the number refused, will not necessarily equal the number of clients who applied for assistance in the financial year.
| Work Type | |
| advice | 4234 |
| minor assist. | 1828 |
| maintenance applic. | 638 |
| variation of exist. maintenance | 178 |
| order / agreement exemption letter to FaCS | 296 |
| non-008 phone advice | 1633 008 |
| phone advice | 1481 |
| not specified | 1633 |
| Forums | |
| Total number of clients attending forums | 2163 |
6.2.2 Community Legal Services Statistics
During 1998-99 Community Legal Services recorded the following child support
related activities:
| Advice | 4609 |
| Information | 1873 |
| Community Legal Education | 158 |
| Cases Opened | 1268 |
| Cases Closed | 1385 |
6.3 Additional Child Support Information Provided by Community Legal Services for 1998-99
| Parent Type: | |
| carer (only) | 1,731 |
| liable (only) | 873 |
| both carer & liable | 0 |
| Stages: | |
| stage1 | 465 |
| stage2 | 2,169 |
| Parentage: | |
| not disputed | 1,507 |
| other proof sought | 83 |
| test required | 396 |
| test positive | 25 |
| test negative | 5 |
| Age of Client: | |
| less than 26 years | 662 |
| 26-35 years | 1,972 |
| 36-45 years | 2,350 |
| over 45 years | 735 |
| Income source: | |
| employed full-time | 1,317 |
| employed part-time | 660 |
| self employed | 216 |
| social security | 3,095 |
| other govt. benefit | 171 |
| no income | 245 |
| employed temporarily | 6 |
| student allowance | 2 |
| community development-employment program | 2 |
| other | 139 |
7.0 Savings and Costs
Savings to Government outlays are achieved as a result of the application of the maintenance income test to payments of more than minimum rate Family Allowance. As at June 1999, payments of more than the minimum rate Family Allowance are reduced by 50 cents for each dollar of maintenance received above $951.60 per annum for a parent with one child from a previous relationship. The threshold is increased where there are additional children or if there is a couple with both partners receiving maintenance.
Not all savings to outlays are attributed to the Child Support Scheme, as some maintenance was being received by pensioners and beneficiaries before the Scheme was introduced. In 1997-98, gross savings to outlays due to maintenance received was discounted by 11.9 per cent in recognition of pre-Scheme flow-on effects. Therefore, net savings equals gross savings minus estimated pre-Scheme savings (see Table 7.1 and Chart 7.1).
"Transfers" are child support liabilities that have been collected by the CSA (CSA Collect), as well as payments that have been paid directly between parents but where the eligible carers are registered with the CSA (Private collect arrangements).
The total amount of child support transferred in 1998-99 was $1,299.2 million, including $727.9 million in Private collections and $571.28 million in funds collected by the CSA. This is a 10.5 per cent increase over the transfers total of $1,162.9 million for 1997-98 (see Table 7.3).
7.4 Comparisons with Overseas Agencies
The Australian Child Support Agency has conducted preliminary research into how broad cost-effectiveness indicators of the Australian Child Support Scheme compare with other child support organisations. In particular broad comparison work has been conducted with the New Zealand CSA, some of the results of which are reported in the table below.
The reader should note that these figures have not been standardised using agreed definitions, although an international project is currently under way to develop such standards between the Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada and UK child support organisations. The United Kingdom CSA is coordinating this project. Given the lack of standardisation between the Australia and New Zealand information, close comparisons between these data is inadvisable. Both agencies define collections in different ways.12
12 The Reader is referred to the paper Child Support Schemes: Australia and Comparisons, Revised August 1998, Client Research Unit (Research and Policy Unit), Child Support Agency, 1998.
Table 7.5 records staffing levels for the CSA at June 1999. The table also notes the gender breakdown by classification levels. In June 1998 there were 2,586.78 FTE staff in the CSA. Of that number 1,708.74 were females (66.06%) and 878.04 were males (33.94%). At levels ASO 1-6 (and equivalents) just over two-thirds of all officers were female but at the Senior Officer levels males accounted for 55.22% of CSA staff.
Research has established that CSA clients prefer communicating by telephone. Recognising this fact, the CSA has allocated considerable time and funding to improving its telephone system. This effort is reflected in the telephone performance statistics in Table 7.6.
Appendix 1: Contact Details
Parents are able to obtain information from the Child Support Agency, Centrelink and legal service providers on the following numbers.
Child Support Agency
| General Enquiries | 131 272 |
| CSA Info Service
(IVR automated service for quick account enquiries and general information) |
131 107 |
| Child Support Change of Assessment | 131 141 |
| CSA Complaints | 132 919 |
Centrelink
| Pensions Information | 132 300 |
| Family Payments | 131 305 |
| Enquiries in languages other than English | 131 202 |
| Appointments | 131 021 |
Carer Parent Services
Child Support Scheme
For more information or advice about how the Scheme applies to you, please
contact one of the services listed below.
| AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY | |
| Legal Aid Office (ACT) | (02) 6243 3436 |
| NEW SOUTH WALES | |
| Legal Aid Commission of NSW | (02) 9744 3833 1800 451 784 Toll Free |
| Campbelltown Legal Centre | (02) 4628 2042 |
| Illawarra Legal Centre Inc. | (02) 4276 1939 |
| Southwest Sydney Legal Centre | (02) 9601 7777 |
| SOUTH AUSTRALIA | |
| Legal Service Commission of South Australia Child Support Section | (08) 8463 3555 |
| Noarlunga Community Legal Service | (08) 8384 5222 |
| Parks Legal Service | (08) 8243 5521 |
| TASMANIA* | |
| Legal Aid Commission of Tasmania (Launceston) | (03) 6331 7088 |
| Hobart Community Legal Service | (03) 6223 2500 |
| NORTHERN TERRITORY | |
| Northern Territory Legal Aid Commission Family Law Advice Sessions | (08) 8999 3000 |
| QUEENSLAND | |
| Legal Aid Queensland Child Support Forum Unit | 1300 651 188 (Toll Free) Fax: (07) 3238 3545 |
| Caxton Legal Centre Inc. | (07) 3254 1811 |
| VICTORIA | |
| Victoria Legal Aid | (03) 9269 0408 |
| Peninsula Community Legal Centre Inc. | (03) 9783 3600 |
| Geelong Community Legal Service Inc. | (03) 5229 0775 |
| Springvale Legal Service, and Springvale Community Aid and Advice Bureau Inc. | (03) 9562 3144 (03) 9546 5255 |
| WESTERN AUSTRALIA | |
| Legal Aid Western Australia | (08) 9261 6259 |
| Bunbury Community Legal Centre | (08) 9791 3206 |
| Gosnells Community Centre | Phone (08) 9398 1455 |
* Carer parents in the south of the State should contact the Hobart Community Legal Service. Carers in the north and northwest of the State should contact the Legal Aid Commission.
Liable Parent Services
Child Support Scheme
If you require assistance to understand your rights and responsibilities under
the Child Support Scheme, a number of Legal Aid related agencies throughout
Australia provide specialised independent services. These services may be able
to assist you to purchase a self-help kit, attend an information session or
receive telephone information and/or advice.
| AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY | |
| Legal Aid Office (ACT) | (02) 6243 3471 |
| NEW SOUTH WALES | |
| Legal Aid Commission of NSW Child Support Service | (02) 9744 3833 1800 451 784 Toll-Free |
| SOUTH AUSTRALIA | |
| Legal Services Commission of South Australia Child Support Section | (08) 8463 3555 |
| Noarlunga Community Legal Centre | (08) 8384 5222 |
| Parks Legal Service | (08) 8243 5521 |
| TASMANIA | |
| Legal Aid Commission of Tasmania Child Support Information Sessions Launceston Office | (03) 6331 7088 |
| Hobart Office | (03) 6233 8383 |
| WESTERN AUSTRALIA | |
| Legal Aid Western Australia Liable Parent Forums | (08) 9261 6318 |
| Bunbury Community Legal Centre | (08) 9791 3206 |
| NORTHERN TERRITORY | |
| Northern Territory Legal Aid Commission Family Law Advice Sessions | (08) 8999 3000 |
| QUEENSLAND | |
| Legal Aid Queensland Child Support Forum Unit (Liable Parent Project) | 1300 651 188 Toll-Free Fax: (07) 3238 3545 |
| Caxton Legal Centre | (07) 3254 1811 |
| VICTORIA | |
| Victoria Legal Aid Liable Parents Information Service | (03) 9629 0342 |
| Peninsula Community Legal Service | (03) 9783 3600 |
| Geelong Community Legal Service Liable Parent Child Support Worker | (03) 5221 4744 |
| Springvale Legal Service | (03) 9562 3144 |
| Springvale Community Aid and Advice Bureau | (03) 9546 5255 |
Appendix 2
