Raising Children Network: the Australian parenting website
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Child support

By Raising Children Network
 
 
The scheme run by the Child Support Agency (CSA) makes sure that parents share the cost of supporting their children, and that the children’s needs are met. It also keeps these arrangements as simple as possible.

Did you knowQuestion mark symbol

Child support is not about who the children live with or who gets to keep what after a separation (that’s the job of the Family Court).

 

The Child Support Scheme makes sure that when parents separate they both still put money towards raising their children, just as they would if the family hadn't separated. It means that even if don't live with your children you have to help pay for them, and it means if you have the main job of looking after your children you can get money from your former partner to help raise them.

Before the Child Support Scheme was introduced, child support could only be obtained by the parents reaching an agreement, or by seeking an order from a court.

What is child support for?

The aim of child support is to make sure that:

  • children of separated parents get the financial support that both their parents are responsible for providing
  • payments of child support are made regularly and on time
  • parents provide a level of financial support they can afford.

In other words, child support is a system that makes sure both parents pay for a child’s upbringing. The agency can be more or less involved, depending on the parents: some parents make their own agreements and handle their own payments; others rely on the agency to do everything.

How much child support?

The amount of support you will either pay or receive depends on your income and on how many children you have, how old they are and who cares for them. Laws about child support payments change regularly. For details on how child support is calculated, visit the Child Support Agency. For examples of child support payments in different circumstances, visit the Child Support Agency’s example of basic formula. You can use the agency’s calculator to try and figure out your own payments.

Arguments about child support

Parents paying child support often complain that it is too much, while parents receiving it complain it is too little. Unfortunately, it takes more income to support two households than one, and so it's not surprising there are disagreements.

 
 
 
  • Last reviewed15-05-2006