• About 3% of separated parents use courts as their main pathway to making parenting arrangements (based on a sample of about 6000 separated parents about 18 months after separation). These are predominantly families affected by family violence, child safety concerns and other complex issues.
• Most (97%) separated parents do not go to court to decide their parenting arrangements, although 16% use family dispute resolution services or lawyers.
• A study based on court files shows that in both court and non-court ordered arrangements, it is most common for children to spend the majority of their time with their mother and to see their father regularly.
• In the small proportion of cases determined by a judge, 45% of court orders provide for sole parental responsibility by the mother, and 11% for sole parental responsibility by the father. 
• Orders for no contact with one parent are rare: 3% of all court orders.
• There are two significant ways in which court orders and arrangements in the general separated population differ:
  • Court ordered arrangements are less likely to involve no contact between children and their father: only 3% of court orders, compared to 9% of the general separated population.
  • Arrangements where children spend most of their time with their father are more common in orders made where litigation occurs (10–19%) than in the separated population generally (2%).

© Data from 2023 Australian Institute of Family Studies

• A study based on court files shows that in both court and non-court ordered arrangements, it is most common for children to spend the majority of their time with their mother and to see their father regularly.

Why Do Mothers Have Higher Custody Statistics Than Fathers?

• There are several reasons why mothers have higher custody statistics than fathers in Australia. One reason is that the child is often placed in the mother’s primary care whilst the father pays child support to the mother.
• Typically, the mother is the child’s primary caregiver
• Child custody is of critical importance to parents, and the mother vs father custody statistics in Australia can help inform your decisions.
• To provide some context, the 2006 Australian Bureau of Statistics found that around 42% of children aged less than 18 years lived in single-parent households, and this number continues to grow each year.
• The Australian Institute of Family Studies also found that 20% of children lived in blended families where they have step-brothers and sisters and a step-parent.

Key messages

• Most children are faring well after separation, according to their parents.
• Children in families affected by family violence are less likely to be doing as well as those in families not affected.
• Children and young people want their views to be considered and taken seriously by parents and, where applicable, by family law professionals, especially when safety concerns are raised.

More info/help

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Further reading

• Child and parent-friendly summary. (2018). Children and young people in separated families: Family law system experiences and needs. Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies.
• Parenting arrangements after separation. (2019). Research summary. Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies.

© Data from 2023 Australian Institute of Family Studies

A parent who seeks child support can apply to the agency to obtain a child support assessment which determines the periodic monthly payment that a parent is liable to pay. In determining this assessment, the Child Support Agency collects both parents’ financial information inclusive of their taxable incomes and then considers the percentage of care that each parent have with the child.

The Child Support Agency then applies a formula to calculate the amount of the child support. A parent thereafter elects as to whether they wish for the child support to be collected by the child support agency or by a private collection.

It is possible for parents to agree to child support payments outside of the assessment process. For example, this might be a lump sum of child support, or payment of school fees or other costs, or some other variation of the assessment. For these parents, they can enter into a child support agreement, which can be either limited or binding.

Question

If a parent refuses to make payment and the debt accrues then the Child Support Agency has the following powers:

• Make the liable parent’s employer deduct amounts from their pay.
• Intercept and use a tax refund to meet an outstanding child support payment.
• Deduct lump sums from a liable parent’s bank account.
• Recover child support from an income support payment.
• Issue the liable parent with an overseas travel ban which prevents them from leaving Australia.
• Commence Court proceedings against the liable parents if other enforcement methods don’t work. The Court will have regard to any asset or income stream of the liable parent.
• Additionally, if a parent is late in making their payments, then the Child Support Agency may apply a penalty on the accrued debt. This penalty is not paid to the recipient of child support but rather to the Australian Government.
• The non-payment of child support is considered a serious issue in. If a parent ceases or refuses to make child support payments or tries to diminish their income so that their liability is decreased, then if requested, the agency can investigate the circumstances of that parent. Specifically, the child support agency target individuals whose lifestyles do not match their income. The Agency may also scrutinise those who work in occupations that are commonly paid cash in hand, self-employed individuals, and individuals attached to companies, trusts and partnerships which have the capacity to hide or reduce income.

The payment of child support can be a sensitive subject and parents often link it to the arrangements in place for the children spending time with each parent.

However, there is separate legislation governing parenting arrangements and payment of child support

Recent Media and $1.6 billion in unpaid child support

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-25/child-support-system-used-to-financially-abuse/102123126

https://www.9news.com.au/national/news-australia-child-support-payment-debts-1-6-billion-owed-parents-travel-bans-michael-keenan-human-services-politics/a49428e4-1df1-4819-af99-c9162c0402bc

Men’s views and support 

https://australianmensrights.com/DNA_Paternity_Testing-Australia_NATA_Laboratories/Paternity_Fraud_in_Australia-DNA_Testing-Needed.aspx

This is a summary of information that has been provided by men and where we have access to research and other data. Goldman Law provide this as an essential requirement for both parents to be aware of so that they do not make mistakes and rely on the Government to collect child support for you.

Enter into binding child-support agreements prior to separation. Speak to Goldman Law now.

1. 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. Child support payments are lower if you have at least 2 nights with the children per fortnight. The amount drops again if you have 5 nights and then keeps reducing as the number of nights increase. See the online calculator / estimator.

To have more time with the children, ideally you can come to a mutual agreement with the other parent. Otherwise, you’ll need to go through a court process (which starts with mediation).

2. Make a Binding Child Support Agreement

Number 2 on the list is a binding child support agreement. This is where you and the other parent agree on how much child support will be paid over a specified period. The precise terms of the agreement are up to the parties.

To be recognised by Child Support, you both need to (i) get legal advice and (ii) obtain a legal certificate to attach to the agreement.

Getting an agreement which is legally binding protects the parties involved.

If it’s not binding, the agreement won’t be recognised by Services Australia.

That means the government process would continue (if you’re already in the system) or could be initiated by either party at any time (including calculation of arrears and ongoing payments).

3. Don’t Chase Pay Increases?

(Stupid)

4. Become Self Employed

If successful in self-employment, you control how much income you earn and, therefore, how much child support must be paid. Note to some extent- seek legal advice first

5. Pay Only What You Receive Credit For

The rules around what counts as child support often don’t favour payers. So be careful before paying for anything out of your own pocket or sending money to the other parent. Make sure it counts as child support, which may require you getting written acknowledgement by the other parent.

6. Inform Child Support if Your Income Drops
7. Lodge Tax Returns Quickly if Your Income Drops
8. Avoid Triggering a Change of Assessment (COA)
9. Initiate a Change of Assessment
10. Have More Children

References

• Child support obligations: what you can do reduce payments (The Australian, 13 Feb 2018).
• Deadbeat parents shown how to ‘legally’ avoid child support (Daily Examiner, 9 Feb 2018).
• Summarized from: https://childsupportaustralia.com/avoid-paying-legally/