Make decision and finalise Child Support objection 277-09170050

A decision on an objection should be made within 60 days of lodgement. The timeframe is 120 days when one or both customers live in a reciprocating jurisdiction. See the References page for a link to Child Support Guide 1.5.1 Australia’s international maintenance arrangements.

There are 3 possible outcomes to an objection:

• allow – the objection is allowed in its entirety
• part allow – one or more aspects of the objection are allowed but not all
• disallow – the objection is disallowed in its entirety

See References for a link to the Child Support Guide 4.1.6: Making a decision to allow or disallow an objection.

A contrary decision is one where the outcome puts the person who lodged the objection in a less favourable situation than the one that resulted from the original decision.

This is different from a decision being disallowed, which would leave the customer in the same position as they were before they objected.

For example, a customer may object to a care percentage decision that results in them having to pay more child support. An Objections Officer may decide that the original care percentage decision was wrong. The new care percentage they find to be correct results in the objecting customer paying more child support than under the original decision.

Part 6A objections are objections to Change of Assessment (COA) decisions. They are made under Part 6A of the Child Support Assessment Act.

General Objections Service Officer (SO4)

• to consider and either grant or refuse applications for extensions of time to object to decisions
• to consider and allow (in whole or part) or disallow an objection to a decision

General Objections Service Officer (SO5)

• to consider - and either grant or refuse - applications for extensions of time to object to decisions
• to consider and allow (in whole or part) or disallow an objection to a decision
• allow or disallow an objection in relation to a care percentage determined pursuant to s52 of the Child Support (Assessment) Act

Part 6A Objections Service Officer (SO6)

• as per Service Officers (SO4) and (SO5) above
• to consider and disallow an objection to a COA decision
• to consider and allow (in whole or part) an objection to a COA decision
• to make a new Part 6A decision when allowing (in whole or part) an objection to a COA decision (where all parties were involved prior to the original decision being made)