E – Australia

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Part 1: Description of the Child Support Model

A. Overview

For the past 40 years, Australia has been developing policy in the area of child support. Research from that era revealed that:

• There had been an increase in poverty among female-headed sole-parent families, from 38% in 1972-73 to 50% in 1981-82.212
• In 1983, relatively few noncustodial parents actually made payments to custodial parents. Where payments were made, they were at relatively low levels. It also seemed that the court-based system was deficient in collecting and enforcing maintenance payments.213

The child support scheme was introduced in 1988 in response to concerns about the adequacy of court-ordered child support amounts and the difficulties that existed in the collection of those amounts in Australia. There were also concerns about the poverty of women and children following separation and divorce and the increasing government expenditure for maintaining children where the other parent did not contribute towards their upbringing.214

When the scheme was introduced, child support was generally based on a percentage of the paying parent’s income, with the percentage increasing as the number of children increased.

When the scheme was first introduced, the Australian Taxation Office was given responsibility for collecting and enforcing child support payments and from 1989, for assessing how much child support should be paid through the Child Support Agency.

In 2011, the Child Support Agency ceased to exist and was transferred to the Department of Human Services (DHS). Currently, the Department of Social Services (DSS) is responsible for the child support legislation and advises the federal government on policy development with regard to the child support scheme. The DHS delivers child support services formerly under the Child Support Agency according to the legislation. Specifically, DHS determines the amount of financial support and conducts child support assessments. They also ensure that child support payments are made in a timely, accurate and efficient manner.

There are two primary pieces of child support legislation. They are the Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988215 and the Child Support (Assessment) Act 1989.216

The Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988 created the position of “Child Support Registrar” (‘the Registrar’) who held the powers under the Acts, and delegated and authorized the use of these powers by others.

Since its introduction in 1988, Australia’s Child Support Program (CSP) has had a number of formal reviews. These have included assessments of the administration of the program, reviews of the policy rationale concerning elements of the formula, the rules accompanying the formula, payment and collection methods, and tools and support available for parents. After each of these reviews, reforms were introduced. Further details on the major reforms to Australia’s Child Support Model are provided below in Part 3.

The goals and principles of Australia’s CSP are outlined in its legislation and are as follows:217

• The principal object of this Act is to ensure that children receive a proper level of financial support from their parents;
• Particular objects of this Act include ensuring:
  • that the level of financial support to be provided by parents for their children is determined according to their capacity to provide financial support and, in particular, that parents with a like capacity to provide financial support for their children should provide like amounts of financial support;
  • that the level of financial support to be provided by parents for their children should be determined in accordance with the costs of the children;
  • that persons who provide ongoing daily care for children should be able to have the level of financial support to be provided for the children readily determined without the need to resort to court proceedings;
  • that children share in changes in the standard of living of both their parents, whether or not they are living with both or either of them; and
  • that Australia is in a position to give effect to its obligations under international agreements or arrangements relating to maintenance obligations arising from family relationship, parentage or marriage.

The formula underpinning the model is based on the income shares model. The underlying assumptions of this model are that the incomes of both parents are required in the determination of a monthly child support amount and that expenditures on children are based on research that identified what percentage of each parent’s income is spent on children.

The basic information required to generate a child support amount using the formula is:

• The annual incomes of both parents;
• The number and age of children;
• The amount of care provided to the child from each parent (number/percentage of overnights);218 and
• The presence of other dependent children not part of the assessment.

The formula does not contain any other factors in the calculations such as expenses for childcare, medical services, tuition and extracurricular activities. These are dealt with outside the formula and are assessed through an administrative review process.

B. How can Parents Obtain a Child Support Award?

Australia’s CSP has been operating for over a quarter of a century. Today, parents have several options to arrange child support. They may:

• Self-manage their child support arrangement. In practice this means that the parents have no regular contact with the DHS and consequently have no “child support case” that is enforceable;
• Parents may request that the DHS determine the amount of child support payable (usually using the formula assessment) and arrange for the transfer of the amount payable privately between themselves. This is referred to as a “private collect”; or
• Parents may request that the DHS determine the amount of child support payable and collect the amounts from the payer and transfer them to the payee. This is referred to as “child support collect”.

Child Support and the Family Tax Benefit

The Family Tax Benefit is an Australian Government payment that helps with the cost of raising children. It is a means tested payment available to both intact and separated families.

Child Support and the Family Tax Benefit (FTB) are closely linked. A parent who claims FTB is required to take reasonable maintenance action if they want to receive more than the minimum (or “base”) rate.

Reasonable maintenance action is demonstrated by having an active child support assessment registered with the DHS. If parents do not apply for child support - that is, if they do not take reasonable maintenance action - they will only be entitled to receive the minimum rate of FTB.219 As a parent’s child support entitlement increases, their FTB entitlement will generally decrease.

To assist parents in conducting their own formula assessment to determine a child support amount, the DHS provides an online calculator tool available called the Child Support Estimator.220 As well, the DHS develops and provides various look-up tables, information and tools all designed to encourage parents to familiarize themselves with the process and calculations used to determine child support amounts.

In addition to establishing and administering the assessment of child support amounts, the DHS is responsible for collecting, dispersing and enforcing the payments of child support amounts.

C. How the Formula Works221

There are eight steps in calculating a basic child support assessment in Australia.222 As well two tables are required to complete the calculations. They are:

• A Cost Percentage Table that sets out percentages that correspond to the amount of time each child spends with either parent; and
• A Costs of the Children Table that sets out the applicable costs of raising a child by combined income level of the parents, age and number of children.

Included in Part 2 of this Summary Report are further details on the construction of the Tables and the specific elements and relevant detailed calculations contained in the formula.

However, to assist the reader in understanding the overall approach and elements considered in the formula calculations, a high-level summary of the eight steps is as follows:

Step 1 - Determine each parent’s Adjustable Taxable Income and Child Support Income

The first step in the calculations requires the determination of the relevant income for each parent that is available for child support. This calculation starts with the last relevant year of income for each parent. Various other income source adjustments, if applicable, are made that result in the calculation of a final amount of income that is called the Adjusted Taxable Income for each parent.

From this amount, both parents deduct a Self-support Amount that is designed to allow the parents to sustain themselves.

Then, two other deductions are allowable depending on the case circumstances:

• The Relevant Dependent Child Amount. This is an amount that recognizes the financial obligations of the parent for their other legal dependents for which there is no other child support assessment.
•  And/or a Multi-case allowance.223 This is an amount that recognizes the financial obligations of the parent for their other legal dependants for which there is another child support assessment.

These amounts are deducted from each parent’s Adjusted Taxable Income and the remaining amount is calledChild Support Income.

Step 2 - Determine the Combined Child Support Income

This calculation is done by adding the Child Support Income of both parentsamounts together, producing the Combined Child Support Income.

Step 3 - Determine each parent’s Income Percentage

The next step is to divide each parent’s Child Support Income amount by the Combined Child Support Income to determine their respective Income Percentage.

Step 4 - Determine each parent’s Care Percentage224 for each child

In this step the actual percentage of care for each parent is determined by dividing the number of overnights that are spent with the child by 365.

Step 5 - Determine each parent’s Cost Percentage225 and Child Support Percentage

To complete this step, using each parent’s Care Percentage calculated in Step 4, the relevant Cost Percentage is ascertained from the Cost Percentage Table. Then, for each parent, their Cost Percentage amount is subtracted from their Income Percentage amount calculated in Step 3. The result is their Child Support Percentage.

Step 6 - Determine which parent is to pay child support

In this calculation, the parent with the positive percentage is deemed to be the parent to pay child support.

Step 7 - Determine the applicable Cost for the Child amount

In this step the applicable Cost for the Child is calculated by taking the Combined Child Support Income amountcalculated in Step 2 and finding the appropriate income category, by age and number of children, in the Costs of the Children Table.

Step 8 - Calculate the Annual Amount of Child Support

This final calculation is completed by applying the paying parent’s Child Support Percentage to the Cost for the Child amount determined in Step 7.

Please see the Appendix B for detailed calculations using two case scenarios.

Part 2: Elements of the Child Support Model

A. Data source used to determine expenditures on the children

How are expenditures226 for the child determined?

The Australian approach is based on the principle that parents should continue to support their children in accordance with their financial capacity just as they would have, had they continued living together. This can be accomplished by providing either direct care, by providing a child support amount to the receiving parent, or a combination of both.

The Fogarty Committee, which provided the policy guidance that resulted in the first Australian scheme, relied on data that resulted in estimates of the percentage of gross income that is spent on children in an intact relationship, based on the combined income level of the parents and number of children.227

The current approach to determining the expenditures on children relies on studies on the “costs of children” conducted in 2005 by the Ministerial Taskforce on Child Support.228 The Taskforce recommended that the costs of children used in the formula should be expressed as a percentage of the combined income of the two parents (after their respective Self-support Allowances have been subtracted); and should reflect that:229

•  Each additional child costs less than the child before it and that after three children, costs stabilize;
• While absolute costs or spending on children increases as income increases, the percentage of income decreases; and
• Older children cost more than younger children.

How are the costs of children reflected in the formula calculations?

The formula assessment uses a Costs of the Children Table (2019)230 to establish the costs of children in the determination of child support amounts. The Table sets out percentages of the combined parents’ Child Support Income amounts. The percentages represent 'net' costs after their Family Tax Benefit is taken into account and the deduction for the Self-support Allowance for each parent, is made. This represents how much of each additional dollar of child support income in each “average weekly earnings”231 band, is attributed to the costs of the children.

The Table contains percentages based on three variables: level of income, age of children and the number of children.

The Child Support Guide (2019) contains a version of the Table.232 In the first row, the column heading of the Table contains the various applicable income levels.

• There are five categories of income at intervals of 0.5 of the Male Total Average Weekly Earnings (MTAWE) starting at 0.5 of the MTAWE and increasing to 2.5 times the MTAWE.233  In the row below these proportions of MTAWE, are the annualized MTAWE amount categories.

The rows of the Table show the three age groupings of children by the number of children.

They show:

• All children, aged 0-12;
• All children (or oldest three) aged 13 and over; and
• A mix of ages: at least one child aged 0-12 and 1 or 2 children aged 13 and over.

Each age grouping of children is further broken down by the number of children - one, two and three or more.

Finally, each Table cell contains a base amount of child support and a percentage of the lowest income amount in that category. The percentage is expressed as “cents on the dollar”, e.g. $0.15 of each $1.00.

The lowest income amount in the category is subtracted from the combined parents’ Child Support Income amount. This amount is then multiplied by the percentage in the cell. This calculated amount is added to the base amount and provides total amount of costs of the children in those particular circumstances.

B. Approach used to Apportion the Amount that the Two Parents will Share

Australia’s approach to apportioning amounts for the parents to share is a modified version of an income shares model. While it requires both parents’ incomes and expenditures of children like an income shares model, it includes the amount of time spent (represented by percentage of care) in all cases.

Thus, the formula looks like this:
(A minus B) times C, where:
A is each parent’s Income Percentage share;
B is each parent’s Cost Percentage; and
C is the amount obtained from the Costs of Children Table.

The parent with the positive amount is the paying parent and will be obligated to pay their calculated amount.

For all assessments, child support payable is worked out under the formula in relation to each child and the rates for all of the children are combined to arrive at the final rate under the assessment for all children.

C. Accompanying Policy/Legislation (Rules)

i) Determination of income for child support purposes

The formula assessment relies on the “last relevant year of income” for each parent. This amount is the income for the person’s last available financial year before the child support period started (a new child support period generally starts every 12 months).

Generally, a parent's taxable income is the amount assessed by the Australian Tax Office (ATO) under the Income Tax Assessment Act for the relevant year of income.

In addition to the person’s taxable income, other income components are included in the determination of the Adjusted Taxable Income. The Adjusted Taxable Income is the total of:

• taxable income;
• reportable fringe benefits;
• reportable superannuation contributions;
• total net investment losses;
• certain tax free pensions and benefits; and
• target foreign income.

Certain amounts – if applicable – are deducted from the Adjusted Taxable Income to form the Child Support:

• Self-support amount: This amount is subtracted from both parents’ incomes in all cases. It is set at one-third of the annualized MTAWE and updated each year. In 2019, the amount is set at $25,038.234
• Relevant Dependent Child Amount:235 In cases where parents qualify for this deduction, they may subtract an additional amount from their Adjusted Taxable Income. A Relevant Dependent Child Amount is determined by using only their Adjusted Taxable Income amount minus the Self-support Amount and looking up the appropriate cell in the Costs of Children Table based on that parent’s level of income, and number and age of the relevant dependent children. An adjustment is made to the amount based on the percentage of care the parent has of the relevant dependent child, which must be at least 35% care. The resulting Cost Percentage is multiplied by the amount found in the Costs of the Children Table to generate the Relevant Dependent Child Amount. If applicable, either parent may claim this deduction.
• Multi-case allowance. If a parent has been assessed for the costs of the children of more than one relationship (that is, the parent has multiple child support cases) then a Multi-case Allowance is deducted from the parent's Adjusted Taxable Income when working out their child support income.236, 237 If applicable, either parent may claim this deduction.

ii) Registrar’s determination of last relevant year of income

If the Registrar238 has not been able to obtain an assessment of taxable income from the ATO for the last relevant year of income, the Registrar may determine an Adjusted Taxable Income amount for the parent. These incomes are sometimes called “provisional incomes”. A provisional income may be:

• The income for the last relevant year of income as declared by the parent (if the Registrar is satisfied that it is likely to be correct); or
• The amount earned in the immediately previous last relevant year of income, adjusted for inflation; or
• An amount determined from other information sources (especially Government pensions or benefits); or
• An ATO tax assessment for a year prior to the immediately previous last year of income, adjusted for inflation, and higher than 2/3 MTAWE; or
• 2/3 MTAWE.

The use of 2/3 MTAWE is intended to cover circumstances where a parent has never filed a tax return, or where the Registrar is unable to ascertain a person's tax file number.239

iii) Custody and parenting time240

Australia has definitions for what they term regular care and shared care:

• A person has regular care of a child if the person’s percentage of care for the child during a care period is at least 14% but less than 35%; and
• A person has shared care of a child if the person’s percentage of care for the child during a care period is at least 35% but not more than 65%.

As shown in the table below, Australia has seven bands of parenting time that are used to determine the Cost Percentage rate that will be used in the formula calculations to recognize their care of the child. Actual percentages of overnights are calculated and then a Cost Percentage is determined using the Cost Percentage Table below. As outlined above, the Cost Percentage is integrated into the apportioning method.

iv) Updating of values

Basic values used in calculating child support assessments are to be updated before the end of each calendar year or financial year241 and must be published in the Australian Government Gazette by June 30th each year for all child support periods starting in the following calendar year. These are:

• The minimum annual rate of child support;
• The fixed annual rate of child support; and
• The Costs of the Children Table, incorporating:
  • The annualised Male Total Average Weekly Earnings (MTAWE) figure, and
  • Other amounts in the table worked out using the annualised MTAWE figure.

Values that are updated before the end of each financial year are the Average Weekly Earnings (AWE) amount for the quarter ending on 31 December of that year.

The updated values are used for all child support periods starting in the following calendar or financial year, as appropriate.

v) Other considerations

Age of the Child: Child support assessments automatically terminate when all minor children have reached the age of 18 years. If the child turns 18 while in full time secondary education (‘high school’) then the payee of the child support assessment may apply for the assessment to be extended to the child’s last day of school for the school year. The assessment is not extended beyond the end of the school year in which the child turned 18.

Minimum Support: A minimum annual amount of child support is set each year. This amount is payable where the formula assessment results in an amount of less than the minimum annual rate. However, the minimum annual rate is not payable for a child if the payer has at least 14% care of that child. For child support assessments commencing between 1 January 2019 and 31 December 2019 the minimum annual rate is $435/year (around $36 / month).

Maximum Support: The child expenditure amounts in the last row of the Cost of the Children Table are used for combined child support incomes that exceed 2.5 times the MTAWE. For the 2019 year that amount was $187,785 AU annually.242

vi) Change of Assessment in Special Circumstances – education, medical, special needs, etc. and Undue Hardship

The formula assessment is flexible and accounts for the changing circumstances of most separated families. Almost all child support assessments are calculated using the child support formula. However, if parents or children have special circumstances, the formula assessment may not provide a fair level of child support.

If a parent is of the opinion that’s this is the case, they can apply for a “Change of assessment in special circumstances”. The Registrar also has the power to initiate a change of assessment, but only where the Registrar believes that the income, earning capacity, property and the financial resources of either parent is not accurately reflected in the assessment.

The change of assessment process takes into account the comprehensive circumstances of the parents. A decision may result in an increase or decrease in the amount of child support payable. The decision maker is not limited to making a decision that supports the claim of the applicant.

The Registrar can only change an assessment if one or more of the reasons are established in the special circumstances of the case. The reasons below range from the extra needs of the children to circumstances of a parent with extraordinary costs.

There are ten reasons for a change in a formula assessment.243 They are:

1. The costs of maintaining a child are significantly affected by high costs of enabling a parent to spend time with, or communicate with, the child;
2. The costs of maintaining a child are significantly affected by high costs associated with the child's special needs;
3. The costs of maintaining a child are significantly affected by high costs of caring for, educating or training the child in the way both parents intended;
4. The child support assessment is unfair because of the child's income, earning capacity, property or financial resources;
5. The child support assessment is unfair because the payer has paid or transferred money, goods or property to the child, the payee, or a third party for the benefit of the child;
6. The costs of maintaining a child are significantly affected by the high childcare costs for the child (and the child is under 12 years of age);
7. The parent's necessary expenses significantly affect their capacity to support the child;
8. The child support assessment is unfair because of the income, earning capacity, property or financial resources of one or both parents; and
9. The parent's capacity to support the child is significantly affected by:
   • their duty to maintain another child or person.
   • their necessary expenses in supporting another child or person they have a responsibility to maintain.244
   • their high costs of enabling them to spend time with or communicate with, another child or person they have a duty to maintain.
10. The parent’s responsibility to maintain a resident child significantly reduces their capacity to support the child support child.

vii) Court orders and child support

The Australian Child Support Scheme is predominantly an administrative scheme, with little direct involvement of the Courts for most child support cases.

However, a limited number of cases can be affected by a wide variety of court orders:

• Orders in relation to the care and parenting of children (which are not “child support” orders, but may have some impact on a child support case);
• Declarations in relation to parentage of a child for child support purposes (open jurisdiction);
• Orders staying the collection of child support (limited jurisdiction for courts to make these orders); and
• Orders changing the amount of child support payable (similar to ‘Change of Assessment in Special Circumstance’ above, limited jurisdiction for courts to make these orders).

In addition, a parent can apply directly to a court if they are dissatisfied with a limited number of Registrar decisions under the CSA Act. However, for most decisions it is necessary for the Registrar to have dealt with an objection about the decision and for the Administrative Appeals Tribunal to have undertaken a first review of the objection decision before the parent can make their court application. In those cases, the parent can only appeal to a court if they think that there has been an error of law.

Part 3: Summary of Key Changes to the Child Support Guidelines Legislation

A.  Overview of the Changes

In Australia, the introduction of Child Support Legislation came into effect in 1988. Included in these reforms was the move from a judicial model for the determination of child support to an administrative model that included the determination, registration and collection of child support awards being housed in the Child Support Agency of the Australia Taxation Office. The introduction of child support guidelines was also included in these reforms. The model underpinning the formula calculations was a “percentage of income” model.245

The original child support percentages payable (on the payer’s income) were: 18% for 1 child, 27% for 2 children, 32% for 3 children, 34% for 4 children and 36% for 5 children or more. The amount of child support payable was reduced if the payee had a (relatively) high income.

Since 1988, Australia has undergone a number of reviews of their Child Support Model. A summary of these reviews as well as the changes brought about as a result of the findings, are presented below.

1993-94 Joint Select Committee Inquiry246, 247

The first major inquiry into the operation and effectiveness of the 1988 scheme was conducted in 1993-94. Although the Committee supported the continuation of the scheme, it found significant problems with its design and operation. In total they made 163 recommendations.

Some of the key changes resulting from this inquiry were:

• The introduction of a $260 a year minimum child support liability;
• An increase to the amount of the self- support reserve for the paying parent;
• A decrease to the receiving parent’s ‘disregarded income amount’;
• The ability to credit up to 25 per cent of the monthly child support amount liability through specified in-kind payments; and
• The introduction of an internal review process (called an objection) that allows parents a mechanism to dispute the assessment provided by the administrative body.

2003 Standing Committee inquiry into child custody arrangements

The second review was conducted in 2003, when the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Family and Community Affairs undertook an inquiry on child custody arrangements in the event of family breakdown. This inquiry was the result of growing concerns from separated fathers wanting more day-to-day care of their children and ongoing public concern about aspects of the scheme. The Committee’s report, Every Picture Tells a Story,248 recommended changes to the presumptions included in the child support legislation regarding shared care, and recommended that a ministerial taskforce be established to examine the child support formula.

2008 – 2013

Building on the recommendations of the House Standing Committee in their report Every Picture Tells a Story and the Government’s response to this review, in 2005 a Ministerial Task Force was struck to conduct yet a further review. Their analysis culminated in a Ministerial Taskforce on Child Support report entitled In the Best Interests of Children.249 The result of this Task Force review saw the heralding in of a series of major reforms to the Child Support Scheme, especially regarding the way the child support amounts were to be calculated.

Changes included:

• Moving from a flat percentage model to an income shares model. This resulted in replacing the “percentage of liable parent’s income” model for an “income shares” model;
• The inclusion of both parents incomes being required to complete a child support assessment;
• Expenditures on children to be used in the formula were to be based on new research that examined the costs of raising children in Australia. These changes also resulted in the introduction of the Costs of Children Table and the estimated costs of children being based on:
  • The level of combined incomes of the parents;
  • The age of the children (now two categories: 0-12 and 13 and over);
  • The number of children (reduced from “four or more” children previously, to “three or more”); and
• Changes that included a reduction of the threshold of care for both parents that ultimately impacted the applicable amount of child support. The threshold for care was reduced to 14% (52 nights or more a year, or one night a week). Prior to this amendment, the threshold for care was 30%.

2014-15 Parliamentary Inquiry

The latest review was a Parliamentary Inquiry that was tasked to examine:

• The methods used by DHS to collect payments in arrears and manage overpayments;
• Whether the child support system is flexible enough to accommodate the changing circumstances of families;
• The alignment of the child support and family assistance frameworks;
• The linkages between Family Court decisions and Child Support's policies and processes; and
• How the scheme could provide better outcomes for high conflict families.

The Committee’s report: From Conflict to Cooperation: Inquiry into the Child Support Program,250 was tabled in Parliament on July 20, 2015.

Overall, the Inquiry found that the current child support scheme works well in the majority of cases. The report contained 25 recommendations that addressed the policy framework underlying the child support legislation, the administration of the scheme by DHS, the adequacy of funding for family support services, and the enforcement of tax return filing.

The Government accepted 18 of the 25 recommendations and tabled their response in Parliament on August 31, 2016.251 The recommendations covered all aspects of the Child Support Program. For the purposes of this report on Child Support Models, the Committee recommended, and the government agreed, to a review of the following components of the child support formula. These are:

• the self-support amount and the indexation mechanism;
• the cost of children table and indexation mechanism; and
• the use of gross income levels.

The objective of the review was to assess whether adjustments and/or design changes should be made to the above components to ensure the amount of child support calculated under the formula remains appropriate and up to date.252

B. Overview of Leading Case Law on the Child Support Model

The main drivers of the reforms in Australia have been as a result of the Inquires, Task Forces and formal Parliamentary Reviews conducted over the years, not case law.

Part 4: Summary of the Literature that Assesses the Model

In addition to the numerous findings and recommendations contained above in the various formal reviews of the Child Support Model in Australia, a further review of the available literature on the advantages and disadvantages of the elements of the Model revealed the following opinions253 about the model:

A. Advantages

• Although the child support system is not perfect, it works well in the majority of cases. Data from studies conducted by the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) indicate that the majority of separated parents establish cooperative relationships with each other and meet their child support obligations. Submissions from professional bodies also argued that the scheme usually works. National Legal Aid concluded that, despite the system’s complexity, the Child Support Program could be considered generally effective, while similar conclusions were reached by Family and Relationship Services Australia, and the Queensland Law Society.254
• In programmatic terms, the Child Support Scheme can be considered a success in achieving its main aims: it increased the proportion of children of separated parents who received support and the amount paid and as a result, assisted in reducing poverty among sole-parent families; and it also increased the revenue for the government, leading to greater fairness for taxpayers.255

B. Disadvantages

• Child support disputes cannot currently be arbitrated. Parties should be able to choose to have child support issues determined by an arbitrator if they agree that the award will become a child support agreement.256
• The Australian child support system currently impacts the lives of approximately 1.5 million separated parents and 1.1 million children (Child Support Agency [CSA], 2009; see also Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS], 2011). Yet the evidence base that informs child support policy is relatively thin. Over the past decade, 20 Australian peer-reviewed empirical studies have been published that focus specifically on child support. Given that ‘good policy requires good data’, a lack of available evidence in the child support context makes it difficult to develop, assess and refine child support policy – especially the impacts that the Scheme has on the lives of Australian children and their parents.257

Part 5: Selected Case Scenarios Using the Australia Formula Assessment

The Department of Human Services provides an online calculator tool on its website. The following section provides the results from two case scenarios. All amounts are in Australian dollars.

Case Scenario 1: Jane and Fred have one child, Sally - who is under the age of 12. Fred has one dependent child, Sam - who is under the age of 18. Sam lives with Fred year-round. Fred takes care of Sally for 70 overnights. The parents have annual taxable incomes of $50,000 for Fred, and $30,000 for Jane.

Case Scenario 2: Andrea and Brian have two children: Linda, who is under the age of 12 and Tom who is over the age of 13 but is younger than 18. Brian has Linda for 60 overnights and Tom for 140 overnights per year. The parents have annual taxable incomes of $50,000 for Brian and $30,000 for Linda.

Appendix A: References

Australia. Australian Government Publishing Service. Child Support: A Discussion Paper on Child Maintenance, Cabinet Sub-Committee on Maintenance, 1986.

Australia. Australian Government Response to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs report: From Conflict to Cooperation – Inquiry into the Child Support Program, August 2016. https://www.dss.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/08_2016/d16_7771679_approved_government_response_to_the_parliamentary_inquiry_into_the_child_support_program_1.pdf

Australia. Australia Law Reform Commission. Family Law for the Future — An Inquiry into the Family Law System. ALRC Report 135 March 2019. https://www.alrc.gov.au/sites/default/files/alrc_report_135.pdf

Australia. Australian Institute of Family Studies. “The 2018 Child Support Changes - What Family Lawyers Need to Know.” Australian Family Lawyer v. 27, no. 2 (Oct. 2018): 35-43. https://aifs.gov.au/cfca/bibliography/child-support

Australia. Child Support Guide, 2.4.7 The Basic Formula - a Single Case Assessment (Formula 1); Version 4.38, February 4, 2019. http://guides.dss.gov.au/child-support-guide/2/4/7

Australia. Child Support Guide, February 4, 2019. http://guides.dss.gov.au/child-support-guide

Australia. Department of Human Services. “Child Support.” https://www.humanservices.gov.au/individuals/child-support

Australia. Department of Human Services. “Child Support Estimator.” https://processing.csa.gov.au/estimator/About.aspx

Australia. Department of Social Services. “Child Support Program Information.” https://data.gov.au/dataset/ds-dga-6379b974-e547-4303-a361-6edebbb52550/details

Australia. Families and Children, Department of Social Services. “History of the Child Support Scheme.” https://www.dss.gov.au/our-responsibilities/families-and-children/programs-services/history-of-the-child-support-scheme

Australia. Families and Children, Department of Social Services. In the Best Interests of Children - Reforming the Child Support Scheme – Report of the Ministerial Taskforce on Child Support, May 1, 2005. https://www.dss.gov.au/our-responsibilities/families-and-children/publications-articles/in-the-best-interests-of-children-reforming-the-child-support-scheme-report-of-the-ministerial-taskforce-on-child-support

Australia. Federal Register of Legislation. Child Support (Assessment) Act 1989. https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2018C00289

Australia. House of Representatives Standing Committee on Family and Community Affairs Inquiry into Child-Custody Arrangements in the Event of Family Separation. A New Family Law System: Government Response to Every Picture Tells a Story, June 2005. https://www.dss.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/govt_response_every_picture.pdf

Australia. Parliament of Australia. Every Picture Tells a Story: Inquiry into Child Custody Arrangements in the Event of Family Separation. House of Representatives Standing Committee on Family and Community Affairs (40th Parliament), December 2003. https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House_of_Representatives_Committees?url=fca/childcustody/report.htm

Australia. Parliament of Australia. From Conflict to Cooperation: Inquiry into the Child Support Program, June 2015. https://www.aph.gov.au/childsupport

Australia. The Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia. Child Support Scheme: An Examination of the Operation and Effectiveness of the Scheme. Joint Select Committee on Certain Family Law Issues, November 1994. https://www.aph.gov.au/parliamentary_business/committees/house_of_representatives_committees?url=reports/1994/1994_pp454.pdf

Cook, Kay, Mckenzie, Hayley and Knight, Tess. “Child Support Research in Australia: A Critical Review.” Journal of Family Studies (2011) 17: 110-125.

Deligiannis, Maria. A Critical Analysis of the Child Support System In New Zealand, Llm Research Paper, Law And Social Policy (Laws 539), Law Faculty, Victoria University Of Wellington, 1996.

Edwards, Meredith. "The Child Support Scheme: What Innovative Collaboration Can Achieve." In Successful Public Policy: Lessons from Australia and New Zealand, edited by Luetjens Joannah, Mintrom Michael, and Hart Paul ’t, 139-64. Acton ACT, Australia: ANU Press, 2019. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvh4zj6k.13

Edwards, Meredith. The Child Support Scheme: What Innovative Collaboration can Achieve, In Successful Public Policy Lessons from Australia and New Zealand. Edited by Joannah Luetjens, Michael Mintrom and Paul Har’t, The Australian National University (2019): 139-163. https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/j.ctvh4zj6k.13.pdf

Contact Person
Lauren Edmunds
Director, Strategic Communications Section
Child Support and Redress Division
Department of Human Services

Participants and Contributors

Department of Social Services
Kath Paton, Branch Manager, Families and Pensions Branch
Sam Cavalli, Director, DSS Child Support Policy Section
Greg Maher, Assistant Director, DSS Child Support Policy Section
Kate Sneyd, DSS Child Support Policy Section
Albert Ho, DSS Child Support Policy Section

Department of Human Services
Brett Walker-Roberts, Acting Director, Child Support Policy Advice Team
Karina Pratt, Assistant Director, Strategic Communications
Adrian Van Nunen, Assistant Director, Child Support Policy Advice Team

Appendix B: Two Case Scenarios

Relevant dependent children

To recognise the care a parent provides for other dependent children, a relevant dependent child amount is deducted from the parent’s adjusted taxable income before applying the remainder of the formula.

The cost of raising these children (that must live with a parent for at least 128 nights of the year) are calculated in the same way as the cost of a child by taking into account (only) the parent’s child support income.

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