Trusted child support lawyer Melbourne

Following your initial phone consultation, one of our family law specialists will meet with you for 90 minutes to find out more about your situation, discuss your options, and explain the process. 

If you or your partner already pay child support, we can review the payments to ensure the amount is accurate. If you choose to apply for a binding child support agreement or departure order, we can provide legal advice and representation. If needed, we can engage in negotiations or mediation with the other parent to reach a voluntary agreement on child support terms.

From a legal standpoint, there are no specifics around exactly what child support should cover, but it typically includes expenses such as:

• Food, clothing, and housing
• School fees, uniforms, and textbooks
• Childcare
• Healthcare and insurance
• Extra-curricular activities

Services Australia have released a basic 8-step formula to help you calculate how much child support you should pay. It determines each parent’s:

• Child support income
• Combined income
• Income percentage
• Percentage of care
• Cost percentage
• Child support percentage

It then works out the cost of children based on your total income, before calculating the total child support amount. As this relies on data, there can be factors that aren’t taken into account; if you disagree with the outcome, reach out to our family lawyers who will be able to offer advice.

Child support in Victoria is assessed and collected by the Child Support Agency. Child support payments are assessed using a formula that takes into account the respective parents' income and the time that the child spends with each parent, among other factors. You can go onto the Department of Health and Human Services website and use the child support calculator to get an estimate of child support payments.

If you want your arrangements to be formalised, then you can enter into either a binding child support agreement or limited child support agreement. These are especially relevant if parents want to formalise non-periodic payments like school fees or health insurance payments which are not usually covered by a periodic child support assessment.

Binding child support agreements can only be entered into where both parents are represented by solicitors and have signed a certificate certifying that they have given advice on the advantages or disadvantages of entering into the agreement. It is difficult to discharge a binding child support agreement once you have entered it which is why you need to seek legal advice.

With a limited child support agreement, a child support assessment is issued and lasts for three years, after which the parties can renegotiate another agreement if they wish and can be discharged if the assessment changes by more than 15% from the previous year.

If you are unhappy with Services Australia’s decision, you can request an internal review or escalate to an external review which will be sent to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT). If you disagree with the decision made by the AAT, you can request a court appeal or judicial review. 

Our trained child support lawyers can help you navigate a dispute and provide legal advice on the best route to take.

Either parent can apply to depart from the child support assessment in special circumstances. 

For example, the parent liable to pay child support may encounter substantial or unusual expenses in spending time with the child because they live a considerable distance away from the other parent or because the child has special needs or because of disputes in the true nature of income of the other parent. If the child attends private school and one parent is paying private school fees, this may also be grounds for a departure from the child support assessment.

Parents will generally need to go through a departure application with the CSA to change an assessment. In some cases, an application may be made directly to court.