Registration of overseas maintenance liabilities (excluding New Zealand) 277-08020000

This is the process used when an application to register an overseas maintenance liability, not already registered by Child Support, is made by:

• an overseas authority
• a parent or non-parent carer
• a child entitled to receive child support, or
• a person entitled to receive or liable to pay spousal maintenance

Registering an overseas maintenance liability may be necessary so Child Support can give effect to international agreements and arrangements relating to maintenance obligations.

A registrable overseas maintenance liability arises from:

• a maintenance order made by a judicial authority of a reciprocating jurisdiction
• a maintenance agreement registered by a judicial or administrative authority of a reciprocating jurisdiction
• a maintenance assessment issued by an administrative authority of a reciprocating jurisdiction
• arrears in relation to any of the above liabilities
• an agency reimbursement liability (the overseas authority seeks reimbursement from the payer because they paid an amount to the payee)

This process excludes maintenance liabilities made in New Zealand and variations to overseas liabilities already registered. For the registration of:

• administrative assessments and maintenance orders from New Zealand, see New Zealand 'In' case management - Registrations between NZIR and Child Support
• an order, agreement or assessment that varies a maintenance liability already registered by Child Support, see Variations to registered overseas maintenance liabilities (excluding New Zealand)

• An application for an Australian child support assessment can be made as an alternative to seeking registration of an overseas child maintenance liability if all other eligibility requirements are met
• If the payee is a resident of a reciprocating jurisdiction, their application for assessment must be made via their relevant overseas authority

See Applications for a child support assessment.

• An overseas enforcement order is not an overseas maintenance liability and cannot be registered
• Enforcement orders are made by some overseas courts to enable enforcement of an Australian assessment if voluntary payments are not made
• They deal with the manner in which the Australian assessment is collected. They do not create a new liability

To be registrable, an overseas maintenance order, agreement or assessment must require a person to pay:

• a periodic amount (or arrears of a periodic amount) for the maintenance of their child or step-child, or
• a periodic amount (or arrears of a periodic amount) of spousal maintenance

A payee of an overseas maintenance liability, who has a non-registrable amount can apply for the non-periodic amounts to be entered into the Child Support Register. This includes:

• lump sum spousal or child maintenance orders, and
• non-periodic maintenance liabilities such as insurance, dental costs etc.

When non-periodic liabilities are entered into the Register, they become a debt due to the payee, not the Commonwealth. The payee can:

• start their own enforcement proceedings in court, or
• ask the Attorney-General's Department to initiate court proceedings on their behalf

A provisional maintenance order made in a court of a reciprocating jurisdiction cannot be registered until it is confirmed in an Australian court. However, a provisional order cannot be confirmed in an Australian court if an application for an Australian administrative child support assessment can be made.

Child Support will refer a copy of the provisional order to the Attorney-General’s Department (AGD) if:

• a provisional order is received, and
• an application for a child support assessment cannot be made. For example, when the child is over 18 years of age

The AGD is responsible for making an application to an Australian court to have the provisional order confirmed. See Referring overseas maintenance and paternity matters to the Attorney-General’s Department.

Child Support must make a decision to accept or refuse an application for child support within 28 days. Where the payee or payer is a resident of a reciprocating jurisdiction, Child Support must accept or refuse the application for registration within 90 days of receiving it.

Staff may also need to apply the following processes:

• Residency decisions for Child Support Customers
• Applications for a child support assessment
• Central Authority Address Listing for International customers
• Referring overseas maintenance and paternity matters to the Attorney General’s Department

Staff are to follow the process in Customer location (tracing) when they need to locate the current address and contact details or customers in Australia and overseas.

Service Officer

• Create customer records
• Conduct pre-registration interviews
• Provide information, products and referrals
• Make decisions on eligibility
• Establish payment methods
• Process the application for an overseas maintenance liability
• Resolve customer enquiries to achieve sustainable outcomes
• Liaise with the overseas authority, where the process requires

Digitisation Solutions Service Officer

• Create customer profiles for applications
• Record application details for paper applications and them on the customer's record
• Create a Court Order Received/AGR Received intray

Service Support Officer (SSO)

• Give advice regarding complex issues
• Help Service Officers

Note: the International team manage cases where one of the customers resides overseas.