Centrelink action on proving parentage for child support 277-51010020

When a parent or a non-parent carer asks Child Support to make a child support assessment, Child Support needs to be satisfied that the persons to be assessed in respect of the costs of the child are parents of the child.

For child support purposes the term 'parent' has its common meaning of the biological mother and father of a child. It also includes:

• an adoptive parent
• if the child was born as the result of an artificial conception procedure, a parent of the child under section 60H of the Family Law Act
• if the child was born because of a surrogacy arrangement, a parent of the child under section 60HB of the Family Law Act

Customers should not delay a child support application while waiting for evidence of parentage as Child Support assessment starts from the date the application is lodged.

Evidence of parentage should generally be provided directly to Child Support or Centrelink within 5 days of applying for a child support assessment.

If no evidence of parentage is available, customers may need to seek legal advice. Customers should apply for a child support assessment before seeking legal advice if they know or suspect who the parent is but do not have evidence of parentage.

If the parent is unknown or cannot be identified, the customer can apply for an exemption from seeking child support.

Child support does not have to be claimed from a person named on the child's birth certificate if the customer says that person is not the child's parent. This may occur for religious or cultural reasons, or a friend or new partner may have wanted to do it.

The customer still needs to take reasonable action to obtain child support from the child's other parent to receive more than base rate of Family Tax Benefit (FTB) Part A for the child.

There is no requirement for the customer to seek to remove the person's name from the birth certificate, although the customer may wish to do this by contacting Births, Deaths and Marriages in the State that issued the birth certificate. They may be asked to seek legal advice, but requirements vary between States.

• If another person is named as the parent, evidence of parentage is needed for the customer to obtain child support from them. The decision by Child Support or the court will be based on the evidence available.
• If the customer cannot name the other parent or does not wish to obtain child support from them, they should be referred to a Social Worker to seek an exemption from applying for child support.
• Where the customer indicates that the person named on the birth certificate is not the child’s parent, but they are unable to name the other parent, the Secretary or Delegate needs to be satisfied that the person named is not the other parent. Evidence that the person is not the other parent could be provided through a court ruling, a DNA test, or a separate statutory declaration from each party.

Note: a customer may be required to take child support action if the current partner is proven not be the parent of the child/ren. For coding instructions, see How to group children on a customer's Family Tax Benefit record.

Child Support cannot be satisfied that a person is a parent of a child solely on the basis of the results of paternity tests (DNA testing).

However, the parent who previously disputed parentage may be willing to sign a statutory declaration confirming parentage following a positive DNA result. If not, the customer seeking a child support assessment will need to seek a court order declaring who the parent is, based on the DNA test. Legal Aid may assist with the viability of DNA testing and a court declaration of parentage.