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Eligibility and presumption of parentage (PoP) for a child support assessment 277-03010030

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Staff who have completed the DMC Technical Support update, must read this Operational Message before issuing letters: Digital Messaging Capability (DMC) - Child Support - letters and access.

Application for a child support assessment resources

See Resources in Application for a child support assessment.

User Guide

Do not share this attachment externally. See Freedom of Information – Information Publication Scheme
https://ourblueprint.internal.dept.local/content/images/icon-hidden-attachment.png|A linked attachment is available for staff only (i.e. under IPS/FOI)Presumption of parentage - user guide
https://ourblueprint.internal.dept.local/content/images/icon-hidden-attachment.png|A linked attachment is available for staff only (i.e. under IPS/FOI)History of section 29 - Presumption of parentage

Letters

Services Australia has endorsed these letters or electronic messages for use. They are the latest version. Do not use locally produced letters or electronic messages.

MX1-1 1.01 Cohabitation dates – request to call

UQ1.03 - Pre-reg for both parties when Payer applied

Macros

Presumption of Parentage (POP) tool

Written Statutory Declarations

Child Support statutory declaration – the persons named in the form are named on the birth certificate for the children form (CS4648)

Customers use this form to make a statutory declaration if they and the other person named in the child support application are named on the birth certificate for the child/ren.

Commonwealth of Australia Statutory Declaration - you are a parent of the children named form (CS4649)

Customers use this form to declare they are a parent of the child/ren named in the child support application.

Child Support statutory declaration – a non-parent carer, and the person named in the form is named on the birth certificate for the children form (CS4647)

Non-parent carers use this form if the person named in the child support application is named on the birth certificate for the child/ren.

Digital Statutory Declarations

A statutory declaration can also be done digitally using myGov and the customer’s Digital ID.

A declaration completed in myGov does not need to be witnessed.

A declaration done in myGov for the purpose of confirming parentage should include the full name and date of birth of the child/ren related to the declaration, and include one of the following statements:

  • the person completing the declaration is a parent of the child/ren named in the declaration
  • the person completing the declaration is entered in a register of births, or a register of births in a reciprocating jurisdiction, as a parent of the child/ren named in the declaration
  • another person is entered in a register of births, or a register of births in a reciprocating jurisdiction, as a parent of the child/ren named in the declaration. The declaration must include the full name of that other person and their date of birth if it is known
Examples of parenting orders and care and protection orders

Item

Type of order

1

Parenting order

Unless there is evidence or explicit consideration by the court as to who the biological parents are, a parenting order will not be sufficient to satisfy PoP.

These orders usually refer to the parties as the ‘applicant father’ or ‘applicant mother.’ This type of casual reference is not an express finding

  • within the meaning of s29(2)(c)(i), or
  • that could only have been made if the person were a parent, as per s29(2)(c)(ii) because parenting orders can be made in relation to parents and non-parent carers

Note: an initiating application for parenting orders may satisfy s29(2)(d) as an executed instrument, if a person acknowledges parentage of the child in the application and accompanying affidavit.

2

Care and protection order

A care and protection order can allocate specific aspects of parental responsibility for a child to:

  • one parent to the exclusion of the other, or
  • both parents jointly, or
  • the Minister and other suitable persons

If a care and protection order state all aspects of parental responsibility for a child are allocated solely to the mother, to the exclusion of the father (and the father is named), this satisfies PoP for the father. The court has made a finding that could not have been made unless the excluded person was a parent of the child (s29(2)(c)(ii)).

Note: the same principle does not apply to the mother in this example, because allocation of parental responsibility can be to a person who is not a parent such as the Minister or other suitable person.