Application for Child Support to be collected 277-04030000

Item

Description

1

Question: What is the 'opt in date' for an AFC?

Answer: The opt-in date is the date either:

• the applicant phones Child Support to apply for collection
• the date Child Support receives and date stamps a signed paper application
• the date Child Support receives an online AFC, or
• the date Child Support determine after gathering evidence of paid child support up to a date not later than 60 days beyond the AFC lodgement

Explanation

The Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988 does not have a regulation similar to section 23 of the Child Support (Assessment) Regulations 2018 which states that an application for an assessment or agreement is to be taken to have been made on the day on which the application is received.

However, the Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988 does state that a liability first becomes enforceable not later than 60 days after the day on which the Registrar receives the application. See Section S28(c) for first time AFCs and section 39(6)(a) for subsequent AFCs.

To align the start date of AFCs with the start dates of certain elections under section 23 of the Child Support (Assessment) Regulations 2018 (that is, application for an administrative assessment or an application for acceptance of a child support agreement), a policy decision was made that the start date for AFC forms would be the date they are received by Child Support.

2

Question: How does Child Support take into account a payment made to the payee or a third party during the arrears period (determined after the processing of the AFC)?

Answer: Payments made to the payee and/or third parties during, or specifically for, the private collect period should have been discussed in conversations held with the customers and taken into account in determining the amount of unpaid child support, that is Opt-in arrears.

If payments for the period prior to the case being made collect are discovered after processing the application, the customers must be advised of their right to object to the calculation of the Opt-in arrears amount. If appropriate, also advise the customer of the right to apply for an extension of time to object.

Note: these payments are not considered NAPs as they were not made in a collect period. The customers' agreements about the payments are still important however. For example, if a payee applies for collection because the payer paid part of the monthly liability to a third party rather than in cash to the payee, the AFC may appear reasonable. However if the payments had been made in exactly the same way for the previous 12 months, this could indicate that they had agreed that child support should be paid this way despite the parent's current claims. These types of payment should not be recorded on the NAPs screen. They should be included in the calculation of opt in arrears.

3

Question: How do I cancel, update or adjust opt-in arrears?

Answer: If it is appropriate to adjust the amount of the arrears, see the Application for collection Cuba Process Help for relevant instructions. Make sure the reasons for adjusting the arrears amount is documented in the Case Collection Details window notepad. Consult a Service Support Officer before making retrospective changes.

4

Question: What happens with retrospective variations which cover opt-in arrears periods?

Answer: A retrospective variation may increase or reduce the liability for the private collect period. If the payee has previously requested that opt in arrears be collected, Cuba will auto-adjust the opt-in arrears amount if the Opt In was processed in Cuba. If the Opt In was processed in the previous mainframe system, an Opt In Arrears intray item will be generated advising that the Opt In arrears needs adjustment. Recalculate the opt-in arrears for the period through the Case Collection Details window.

If there were no arrears when the payee lodged the AFC but a retrospective variation to the liability occurs, this could possibly result in unpaid amounts arising for the private collect period. If so, the payee may apply for collection of any unpaid amounts for the period 3 or 9 months prior to the case becoming collect subject to the requirements to s28A or 39A. See the References page for a link to the Child Support Guide 5.1.4: Collection of arrears accrued during non-collect period.