Child Maintenance
Generally, child maintenance is an issue dealt with by the Child Support Agency. The agency is a Federal Government agency, which has the responsibility for assessing and, if appropriate, collecting child support payable by one parent to the other.
Applications for child support are most usually lodged online.
The calculation of child support is based on a formula, the primary elements of which are the income of each of the parties, the number, and ages of the children, and the time that the children are in each parties' care. If the children primarily live with one parent, an arrangement for time with the other parent, between 14% and 34%, has no impact upon the application of the formula. In other words, common arrangements for children to have time with the parent with whom they do not live, each alternate weekend for 3 or 4 nights as well as half of school holidays, will fall within that range.
In appropriate circumstances the formula can be varied, having regard to the particular circumstances of the children, such as a long standing agreement for the children to be educated at a private school, or unusual care requirements because of health issues, or the cost of transportation for the children to spend time with the other parent. Except in cases of urgency, or if an appeal against a Child Support decision needs to be lodged, the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia is not involved in the process of child support.
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