Legal issues

Home > Legal issues > Children & parenting > Child support & child maintenance

Child support & child maintenance

The law says that both parents have a duty to support their children financially, whether they are biological (birth) or adoptive parents.

Child support payments are paid by one parent to the other to help with the costs of a child aged under 18. How much child support should be paid depends on:

the financial circumstances of each parent
the age(s) of the child(ren)
the level of care each parent provides for the children
whether either parent supports other children
any special needs of the children.

These payments are separate from any parenting or other Centrelink payments a parent may get, but child support payments can affect how much you are paid by Centrelink.

Parenting arrangements may affect your child support payments. If you are making parenting arrangements with your ex-partner, get legal advice first.

Most legal aid commissions and some community legal centres have specialist child support services. See ‘Getting legal help’ (link below).

Child Support Agency

The Child Support Agency (CSA) is a Commonwealth Government agency. Its role is to support separated parents to transfer payments for the benefit of their children.

See the CSA website (link below) for information, forms and contact details. The CSA also has a website for Indigenous parents (link below), and Indigenous officers who can give you information over the phone.

Child support scheme

Most children in Australia are covered by the Child Support Scheme, managed by the Child Support Agency.

The scheme assesses how much child support should be paid if parents cannot come to their own agreement. It also collects and enforces court orders, maintenance agreements and child support assessments.

Changes to the scheme

Major changes to the scheme have been introduced over the past three years. The final changes take effect on 1 July 2008. The changes affect all parents who pay or receive child support, even if you work out your own child support arrangements.

The most significant change is the formula that CSA uses to assess how much child support should be paid. Child support assessments will be different depending on the age of the child and the level of care each parent provides to the child. The income of the parent the child lives with will also be taken into account. See ‘Child support – frequently asked questions’ (link below) for more details.

CSA has a website about the new child support scheme and changes to family assistance (link below). The website explains the changes and how they will affect your child support payments.

In Western Australia these changes may be delayed for children whose parents were not married. Get up-to-date legal advice about your situation.

Child maintenance

If a child turns 18 while they are completing their final year of secondary school, the parent who receives payments can make an application to the Child Support Agency to extend the child support assessment until the end of the school year. This application needs to be made before the child turns 18.

You can make an agreement or a court can make an order for parents to provide financial support for their adult children if the adult child is unable to support themselves because they:

are completing their education (including at tertiary level)
have a serious illness
have a disability
have other unique, special needs.

The amount of maintenance paid depends on the adult child’s necessary expenses and each parent’s financial position. Parents can make their own agreement after seeing a lawyer or file consent orders in a court (where both parents agree to the orders). When parents cannot reach agreement, the court can decide the amount to be paid. Before you can go to court you will need to try family dispute resolution.

Only a court order for ongoing maintenance payments can be registered for collection with the Child Support Agency. If you have an agreement maintenance payments are made privately between parents.