Applications for child support assessment through Centrelink 277-51010010

Check if the payer is:

• overseas in a non-reciprocating or excluded jurisdiction
• overseas in a reciprocating jurisdiction
• recently arrived in a reciprocating jurisdiction from a non-reciprocating or excluded jurisdiction and, or
• recently arrived in Australia from a non-reciprocating or excluded jurisdiction

Does the payer meet one of the scenarios above?

• Yes, see Action to obtain child support when the paying parent is overseas and the Maintenance Action Test (MAT)
• No, go to Step 2

There is a 13 week (91 day) timeframe for the customer to take action to get child support. During this time, FTB Part A can continue to be paid at more than the base rate for a child. If the Deciding Maintenance Action (DMA) period has lapsed, the FTB Part A rate will be limited to the base rate until the Maintenance Action Test (MAT) has been met.

If the customer:

• is enquiring about lodging an application for a child support assessment, go to Step 3
• has already applied for a child support assessment but a child support case has not yet been started (customer has not yet received an assessment letter from Child Support and is requesting details be updated), go to Step 6
• states they have an active child support case, but data has not loaded onto their Centrelink record, go to Step 9

If a Maintenance Action Taken Fast Note handoff is received from Child Support, go to Step 7.

For parents with shared care of a child, see Maintenance Action Test (MAT) for customers with shared care for details of a workaround to prevent FTB Part A being restricted to base rate for the payer. Procedure ends here.

An application for a child support assessment is only required if the:

• child is in the customer's care at least 35% of the time
• person to pay child support is the parent of the child (if the FTB customer is not the child's parent but their current partner is, their partner should apply)
• identity of the paying parent is known, and
• customer does not want to apply for an exemption

If evidence of parentage cannot be obtained, an application must still be made unless the parent's identity is unknown. The customer must wait until Child Support rejects their application before seeking legal advice about obtaining evidence of parentage. See Exemption from seeking child support for Family Tax Benefit (FTB) customers.

After considering the above criteria, is an application for a child support assessment appropriate?

• Yes, go to Step 4
• No:
• tell the customer that reasonable action to obtain child support must be taken within 13 weeks (91 days) of the DMA period commencing. See Table 2 in Maintenance Action Test (MAT) for Family Tax Benefit) FTB) customers
• the customer may seek an exemption, see Exemptions from seeking child support for Family Tax Benefit (FTB) customers
• procedure ends here

Tell the customer:

• 'You have 13 weeks to apply for a child support assessment or request an exemption before your Family Tax Benefit rate will be affected. If an application is accepted by Child Support, an assessment can only be made from the date the application is lodged’
• ‘If you are not an existing child support customer, your application is made on the Services Australia website. I can take you through the steps to find the application. In your search engine, type Apply for Child Support and then select the Services Australia website and from here select apply’
• ’If you are unable to lodge an application online, I can transfer you now to Child Support’
• 'When you apply for a child support assessment, you decide whether you want to privately collect the child support or if you want Child Support to collect the child support on your behalf’
• 'You are always advantaged by receiving child support as soon as possible, as only a proportion of the child support you receive will affect your Family Assistance’

Customers must make an application for a child support assessment online via:

• the Services Australia website, or
• their myGov account if they are an existing Child Support customer

See the Resources page for Services Australia website and myGov links.

Online is the preferred option for child support applications. If this option does not suit the customer's circumstances, customers can be warm transferred to Child Support via Services Australia Workspace. For contact details, see Child Support.

A Maintenance Action Requirement Notification letter will be automatically issued to the customer if they are within the 13 week (91 day) DMA period when the FTB claim is granted or the circumstance change recorded.

Procedure ends here.

Confirmation could include:

• the customer providing their application ID, and date and time from their online application
• a Fast Note from a Child Support Service Officer with the case number, children applied for and start date of application
• warm transfer to Child Support using Services Australia Workspace (iWS softphone) transfer option - CS New Customers (NC), where a Service Officer can confirm this information over the phone, if there is no Fast Note recorded
• cold transfer from Child Support where customer has contacted Child Support directly. Customers contacting Child Support by phone will be provided with the following information and 'cold transferred' to Centrelink to allow maintenance action to be updated on their record:
• Child Support Case Number
• Child/ren's names the case applies to, and
• Start date of child support application

Record the details, use Fast Note - select Auto text, use Families > Updates > Advised taken Maintenance Action. Go to Step 7.

If the customer advises they applied for child support via phone, but were not transferred from Child Support and is:

• able to provide the above information and the date the customer advises is not more than 2 months in the past, go to Step 7
• not able to provide the above information, or the date the customer advises is more than 2 months in the past, warm transfer the customer to Child Support via Services Australia Workspace to confirm the details

This may assist Child Support Unit (CSU) staff with manual matching if a mismatch occurs, see Mutual customer matching with Child Support.

If the customer's relationship status reflects they are still linked to the person who will pay child support, unlink records before child support details are recorded.

• In this case, see Change in relationship status from partnered to single

Once the record is unlinked, update the Maintenance Action Test (MAT) code for child to:

• 'APP' (applied for Child Support assessment)
• 'CAC' (applied for Child Support assessment and collection) or
• ‘PRP’ (seeking proof of parentage) where the other parent is not a resident of Australia. See Action to obtain child support when the paying parent is overseas and the Maintenance Action Test (MAT)

Update the applicable MAT code Date of Event (DOV) from the earlier date of the options below if the customer:

• is ‘warm’ or ‘cold’ transferred from Centrelink, including when the customer has contacted within the office, DOV is the date the customer lodged an application for child support as confirmed by child support.
• has uploaded a documentation from Child Support, DOV is the date the customer has applied for a child support assessment
• submits an application online, the DOV is the date the customer successfully submits the application online, or
• contacts Centrelink directly and is able to provide the information as per step 6 and the date the customer advises is not more than 2 months in the past, DOV is the date the customer has applied for a child support assessment

If the workflow is unavailable, the maintenance action test code can be updated on the MNMA screen manually.

If the MAT code of 'APP', 'CAC' or 'PRP' has been coded in the past 3 to 6 months, go to Step 8.

Record the details, use Fast Note - select Auto text, use Families > Updates > Advised taken Maintenance Action. Include the:

• name of the child/ren and payer
• date the application was lodged, and
• application ID number, if the customer says they submitted an application online

Finalise activity on the Assessment Results (AR) screen.

Go to Step 10.

For customers that have made an application at for child support, but the case has neither been rejected nor accepted.

If the customer states they have an active child support case, however data has not loaded onto the record, go to Step 9

If APP, CAC or PRP has been coded in the past 3-6 months and has reverted to NMA (no maintenance action), unless the customer's action to get child support status has previously been confirmed, it cannot be updated until it has been confirmed an application for child support has been lodged. Evidence of this includes:

• confirmation from Cuba directly, if Service Officer has Cuba access
• warm transfer from Child Support who confirm an application for child support has been lodged
• documentation from Child Support showing they have applied for an assessment. This includes the customer verbally providing their application ID number, and date and time from their online application receipt. Note: the date of the application must be recent. If the customer provides a date more than 2 months in the past, the status of that application must be confirmed with Child Support. That application should have been resolved

Once sufficient confirmation has been provided, APP/CAC may be recoded with a date of event 42 days after the previous APP/CAC date. Recode PRP with a date of event 99 days after the previous PRP code. Where the previous application is rejected APP/CAC can only be coded from the date the new application was lodged.

Procedure ends here.

Confirmation the customer has an active child support case is required, for example letter from Child Support. Once received, verify the child support assessment amount and check if it is below the Maintenance Income Free Area (MIFA).

Is the child support assessment amount below the MIFA?

• Yes, APP/CAC may be re-coded with a date of event 42 days after the original date the customer applied:
• if NMA was automatically coded on the Maintenance Action (MNMA) screen, re-code 'APP' from the same date. MAT is met from the date the customer applied
• finalise the activity on the AR screen, then confirm spelling of names and dates of birth. Action as appropriate
• record the relevant details in the Maintenance Enquiry Fast Note template for the Child Support Unit (CSU) to follow up why data has not loaded onto the customer's record. See Child Support data has not loaded or is incorrectly affecting customer's record. Procedure ends here
• No (or the assessment amount is unknown):
• record the details in a Maintenance Enquiry Fast Note template for the Child Support Unit (CSU) to follow up
• do not recode APP/CAC as this will cause the customer's FTB rate to be incorrect
• procedure ends here

Note: if the enquiry for CSU is ‘Urgent’, the ‘Urgent’ keyword will need to be added manually to the Fast Note template.

The MAT codes APP and CAC generate an automatic review 42 days from the date of event on the MNMA screen.

If Child Support has not confirmed acceptance or rejection of the application via the data exchange, the automatic review will update the MAT code to either:

• DMA (deciding maintenance action) if it is within the 13 week (91 day) timeframe for the customer to take action to get child support. More than base rate FTB Part A can continue until the end of the 13 week period
• NMA (no maintenance action) if it is outside the 13 week period. This will limit FTB Part A for the child to base rate

For more information about the reviews and how to find them on the Activity Search (AYS) screen, see Child support Manual Follow-up (MFU) activities and automatic reviews.

If a customer provides care for a child and they are not the parent, they may be able to apply for child support from both of the child's parents. Examples of non-parent carers include legal guardians, grandparents or other family members.

Make non-parent carers aware there is no Maintenance Action Test (MAT) requirement for FTB A purposes. They can still apply for an assessment. Although there is no MAT requirement, if child support is received, the Maintenance Income Test (MIT) will apply.

Customers can apply for a non-parent carer child support assessment if they:

• care for a child 128 nights or more a year (35% or more care), and
• are not considered to be a member of a couple with one of the child's parents

Non-parent carers who apply for an assessment must apply for a child support assessment against both parents, except if:

• one parent is not a resident of:
• Australia, or
• an overseas country Australia has a child support arrangement with
• one parent is deceased, or
• there are special circumstances. For example, the identity of one parent is unknown

Child Support will consider other requirements before deciding to accept an application, including whether the person or people named in the application are legally the parents of the child. See the References page.

Child support is assessed on both parents' incomes and the level of care the customer (non-parent carer) and each parent has of the child. The non-parent carer's own income is not taken into account.

Does the non-parent carer wish to apply for Child Support?

• Yes, go to Step 2
• No, tell the customer there will be no impact to their rate of FTB Part A as there is no requirement for them to take maintenance action against the parent. Procedure ends here

A non-parent carer can apply for child support by:

• making an application online via:
• the Services Australia website, or
• their myGov account, if they have an active Child Support case
• see the Resources page for Services Australia website and myGov links
• calling the child support and general enquiries phone number, if the customer is unable to apply online

Tell the customer:

• 'When you apply for a child support assessment, you can decide whether you want to privately collect the child support or if you want Child Support to collect the child support on your behalf'
• 'You are always advantaged by receiving child support as soon as possible, as only a proportion of the child support you receive will affect your Family Assistance'