See Your Children More The single best thing for avoiding child support is to spend time with your children. How much you pay basically depends on how many nights per fortnight the children spend with you. If you have the kids 7 nights per fortnight, you're assumed to be covering 50% of their costs through direct care.
The best course of action is to ask the court for an order modification (more below). The only guaranteed ways for support to end are if parents get back together or the child becomes legally independent based on age (usually 18) or via emancipation, marriage or joining the military.
Child support scheme
Under Australian law, separated parents (including same sex parents) have a duty to provide a proper level of financial support for their children.
The fixed rate for child support periods starting on or after 1 January 2023 is $1,632 per child per year.
If you don't pay your child support in full and on time, we may apply penalties on the outstanding amount. You pay the penalty amount to the Australian Government, not to the receiving parent. If you pay the overdue child support, we may reduce or remove the penalty from your account.
Liability order from a court
CMS can take you to court over unpaid child maintenance. They can apply for a court order to take legal action. This is a 'liability order'. If the court grants the order, CMS can then legal action against you.
Parents have a legal responsibility to provide financially for their children even if they no longer live with them. When child maintenance is paid it can make a significant difference to the lives of families.
In Australia shared custody means that the non-residential parent pays child support to the residential parent. In the case of a 50/50 split, the higher earner usually pays child support to the lower earner to ensure the children's standard of living is the same in both locations.
For the 2021-22 financial year, it's a payment of up to $788.40 for each eligible child. For the 2022-23 financial year, it's a payment of up to $817.60 for each eligible child.
2. It's unfair to hard-working parents. Australia's child support formula is generally unfair to parents who earn a good income. Every dollar that's given to one parent because they have a lower income is a dollar taken from the main financial contributor.
In Australia, there is no minimum age which a child can legally refuse to see a parent following divorce or separation. Of course, once children of divorce reach the age of 18 years they can make their own decisions about where they live or which parent they want to spend time with.
The maximum child support payable is also known as the “cap” . The maximum child support is applied to the combined income of both parents up to 2.5 times the annual equivalent of all Male Total Average Weekly Earnings (MTAWE) and calculated using the Costs of Children Table.
A prior order authorizes a bench warrant if you failed to pay two weeks of support (or lump sum).
No child support payments if 50/50 care
“Shared care where it exists should have no payments from either party as both parents have their expenses with their children, food, clothing and other support that they choose to provide on their income.”
IF I PAY CHILD SUPPORT, DO I STILL HAVE TO BUY MY KIDS CLOTHES? THE SHORT ANSWER IS, YES.
A mother cannot deny a father access to their children in Australia. There is a presumption of equal and shared parental responsibility. Only an order from a local court or the Federal Circuit Court and Family Court of Australia would be able to stop a father from accessing their children in Australia.
A parent is unable to simply choose to opt-out of these responsibilities and relinquish parental rights in Australia even after a separation, which is where matters such as child support come into play.
Assuming you're on the basic rate, you'll need to pay: 12% of your gross weekly income for one child. 16% of your gross weekly income for two children. 19% of your gross weekly income for three or more children.
On the basic rate, if you're paying for: one child, you'll pay 12% of your gross weekly income. two children, you'll pay 16% of your gross weekly income. three or more children, you'll pay 19% of your gross weekly income.
Child Maintenance payments stop when the child is aged 16 or when they finish leave full-time non-advanced education.
Normally child support stops when your child turns 18. If your child's in secondary study, you can apply to extend it to the end of the school year.
We can collect overdue payments going back: up to 3 months in normal circumstances. up to 9 months in exceptional circumstances.
Any child support you receive can affect how much Family Tax Benefit (FTB) Part A you get. If you or your partner receive child support, these payments can affect your FTB. If the amount of child support you receive changes, your FTB payments may change too.
If a parent cannot afford to pay maintenance, the court will order him/her to pay a lesser amount. If a parent has no income at all, he/she will not be required to pay maintenance, unless he/she owns significant assets which can be used to pay maintenance.