Conducting a Child Support non-parent carer assessment 003-12040010

Services Australia has a zero tolerance approach to child abuse.

A staff member must act when they see or hear behaviour, which raises concern about a child or young person’s safety. Follow the agency's Risk Identification and Reporting model when identifying and responding to child safety concerns. See Risk identification and management of threats to the safety or welfare of a child.

A non-parent carer, who is not a legal guardian of a child, can apply for an assessment of child support, payable by the parent(s)/legal guardian(s) of the child, if they have at least 35% shared care of the child.

However, if at least one of the child's parent(s)/legal guardian(s) has said that they do not consent to the person caring for the child, they will not usually be considered an eligible carer for Child Support purposes. The exception is cases where it's unreasonable for the parent/legal guardian to care for the child/ren themselves.

To determine if it is unreasonable for a parent/guardian to care for the child:

• The delegated Child Support officer must be satisfied there has been extreme family breakdown, or
• there is a serious risk to the child's physical or mental wellbeing in the home of the parent or legal guardian concerned

To assist the delegated Child Support officer to make this decision, if a parent or legal guardian advises Child Support that they do not consent to the non-parent child support applicant providing care for the child, Services Australia social workers will:

• assess the family/care situation further to establish whether the non-parent child support applicant satisfies the requirements for an eligible carer, and
• provide a professional recommendation to Child Support on whether the child/ren can reasonably live with a parent

Child Support Objections procedures apply for any party dissatisfied with the decision made by the delegated Child Support officer on behalf of the Child Support Registrar.

Service Officers will request a social work assessment:

• to determine if it is unreasonable for a parent or legal guardian to provide care for their child/ren
• using the Centrelink/Child Support information exchange macro, see Application for assessment - non-parent carer

When the email is received, a nominated Social Work Support Manager (SWSM) will register the request and allocate it to a social worker. Assessments are actioned by social workers undertaking Unreasonable to Live at Home (UTLAH) assessments for income support payments.

Social workers will provide a professional recommendation to Child Support on the ability of the child/ren to reasonably live with a parent or legal guardian through assessment of:

• extreme family breakdown of the parent/child relationship, or
• the presence of a serious risk to the child's physical or mental well-being in the home of the parent/legal guardian

Every effort will be made to complete social work assessment within 21 days of the referral.

Services Australia social workers document Child Support non-parent carer (NPC) assessments in a report on the child's Centrelink customer record, since this is the location of the Social Work Information System (SWIS). Social workers may disclose the full social work NPC assessment report to the Child Support decision maker, for the purpose of the non-parent carer assessment (the ‘original purpose’).

As the information in the report may be sensitive personal information, the report should only be used for the original purpose or directly related secondary purposes, such as an ART review of the NPC assessment (a non-disclosure application so the report is not shared with the parents may be appropriate in the case of ART review).

The social work NPC assessment report must not be used by:

• Child Support for other purposes. For example to enable collection of child support or better manage complex/sensitive child support cases, or
• social workers for other purposes. For example other assessments and support to the agency’s master programmes, unless advice is provided allowing this