Change in child support care levels 277-03040000

From 1 July 2010 (3 March 2011 for WA ex-nuptial cases) customers who have both a Child Support assessment and are in receipt of Family Tax Benefits are mutual customers. Mutual customers can notify either agency of a change to the care for a Family Tax Benefit (FTB) eligible /dependent child of an assessment.

The agency who is notified first will:

• record the change in care details
• conduct investigations
• make a care decision
• give effect to the decision

Throughout this process, information is shared between Child Support and Centrelink electronically via data exchange. The final decision is applied to the customer’s Child Support and FTB assessment.

Note: for a copy of the process in place before 1 July 2010 (3 March 2011 for WA ex-nuptial cases) contact Operational Blueprint and seek help from technical support if needed.

Different Date of Effect rules are applied to the Child Support assessment, depending on:

• Date of Notification - when the change in care level was notified
• Date of Event - when the change in care level actually occurred

For care changes notified:

• within 28 days of the Date of Event, the Date of Effect used for both parties is the Date of Event
• before 1 July 2018 (15 May 2019 for WA ex-nuptial cases) and more than 28 days after the Date of Event, the Date of Effect is the Notification date for both parties
• on or after 1 July 2018 (15 May 2019 for WA ex-nuptial cases) and more than 28 days after the Date of Event:
• Date of Effect for the reduced care carer is the Date of Event
• Date of Effect for the increased care carer is the Notification date

Before 15 May 2019, a WA ex-nuptial case existed where:

• the parents were not married (and did not subsequently marry), and
• the child and carer were residing in Western Australia

On 15 May 2019, WA parliament passed legislation that adopted all Commonwealth child support laws not previously adopted. The parliament also:

• referred legislative powers in respect of the maintenance of ex-nuptial children to the Commonwealth, and
• repealed the Child Support (Adoption of Laws) Act 1990 (WA)

This means that all changes to care notified on or after 15 May 2019 are managed in line with general care guidelines.

Services Australia enhanced the Child Support system on 18 June 2022 to automatically treat WA ex-nuptial customers correctly prospectively where:

• Child Support Periods (CS Period) are automatically raised on or after 18 June 2022
• New cases are registered or cases are restarted with a Start Date of Liability (SDOL) on or after 18 June 2022

As this enhancement was prospective only, workarounds were needed for change of care notifications:

• on or after 15 May 2019, and
• ‘date of events’ within CS Periods) that reflect a WA ex-nuptial status of ‘Yes’ and:
• care is notified outside of 28 days - late notified care change
• disputed care - possible interim period - is notified
• an amended tax assessment is lodged
• a payee is entitled to child support under an agreement and the care they have of the child in the agreement falls below 35%

Service Officers should follow instructions within relevant Operational Blueprint documents for decision-making and customer management where these circumstances are present. Once initial decisions are made, affected records are identified via reporting and specialised teams action to ensure legislatively correct implementation.

See the Resources page for the COVID-19 impacts on care arrangements table.

Customers experiencing vulnerability may require additional support or assistance to access payments and services.

Anyone can be at risk of vulnerability. It is not linked to a specific customer group or characteristic. Everyone experiences vulnerability differently.

The Resources page in Social worker and other service referrals for Child Support customers has referrals and support services to assist these customers.