Effect on Family Tax Benefit (FTB) where the customer elects to suspend or end a child support assessment 277-51130050

When the payee contacts Child Support to advise that they have reconciled with the payer, and:

• the case has been suspended, go to Step 2
• the customer separated before the end of the 6 month suspension period, go to Step 3
• the case has been ended, go to Step 4

Child Support transfers the data to Centrelink electronically via the data exchange.

A Manual Follow-up (MFU) activity is created if:

• The customer is not linked to the payer in the Centrelink system or the date on the Marital Status (MS) screen is different. In these scenarios, the MFU A020MN - Child Support advises details of re-partnering is created. From the DOC attached to the Manual Follow-up (MFU) activity, locate the date the case was suspended and the payer's details

Go to Step 4.

A Manual Follow-up (MFU) activity is created if:

• The customer has separated from the payer before the end of the 6 month suspension but they are still linked in the Centrelink system. In this scenario, MFU A022MN - Child Support advises new entitlement is created. From the DOC attached to the Manual Follow-up (MFU) activity, locate the date Child Support lifted the suspension and the payer's details

Go to Step 4

Make an outbound call to confirm the reconciliation/separation and the date of the event match the information advised within the MFU. If the customer:

• confirms reconciliation/separation and the date, go to Step 5
• confirms reconciliation/separation but give a different date, go to Step 6
• denies reconciliation/separation, go to Step 7
• cannot be contacted, go to Step 8

Advise the customer of the importance of providing updated details immediately so that correct entitlement can be established.

Customer has reconciled - MFU A020MN

For appropriate action and relevant forms to issue, see:

• Family assistance only customers, see Family assistance customer becomes partnered
• Income support customers, see Change in relationship status from single to partnered
• Parenting Payment customers, see Transfer from Parenting Payment Single (PPS) to Parenting Payment Partnered (PPP)

Record details of contact with the customer on a DOC and complete the MFU. Resubmit DOC to ensure the customer is given 14 days to provide information after the request is made on Day 1 (allow 21 days if appropriate as above). Allow extra time for mail delivery.

When the DOC becomes due:

If the customer does not provide the information as requested within the allowed time and the customer is in receipt of:

• Family assistance only, cancel FTB for reason Failed to Reply to Correspondence (FRC). If the customer is in receipt of Child Care Subsidy (CCS) refer to Level 2 Policy Helpdesk advising 'CCS customer failed to reply to correspondence, zero rate required' include what information is required to correctly assess entitlement
• Income support payment, suspend the ISP for reason FRC. The FTB will automatically cancel if the ISP is suspended or cancelled and not restored within 21 days. For more information see Suspension of payments (CLK) or Suspension of Parenting Payment (PP)

If the customer later re-contacts:

• Family assistance only customers, FTB will need to be restored. If CCS has cancelled the customer will need to reclaim
• Income support customers, if the MOD P (or online claim for PP in some cases) is later provided within the allowable timeframe, see Change in relationship status from single to partnered or Transfer from Parenting Payment Single (PPS) to Parenting Payment Partnered (PPP)
• Child Support, the customer will need to contact Child Support in relation to their child support case (if applicable)

Customer has separated - MFU A022MN

• Family assistance only customers, see Family Tax Benefit (FTB), Parental Leave Pay (PPL) and/or Child Care Subsidy (CCS) customer separates
• Income support customers, see Change in relationship status from partnered to single or Transfer from Parenting Payment Partnered (PPP) to Parenting Payment Single (PPS)

Record details of contact with the customer on a DOC and complete the MFU.

Procedure ends here.

Advise the customer of the importance of providing updated details immediately so that correct entitlement can be established.

The same date of reconciliation/separation needs to be used by both Centrelink and Child Support. If the customer advises that they provided Child Support with the wrong date, tell the customer to contact Child Support to provide the correct date of reconciliation/separation.

Customer has separated

• Family assistance only customers, see Family Tax Benefit (FTB), Parental Leave Pay (PPL) and/or Child Care Subsidy (CCS) customer separates
• Income support customers, see Change in relationship status from partnered to single
• Parenting Payment customers see Transfer from Parenting Payment Partnered (PPP) to Parenting Payment Single (PPS)

Customer has reconciled

• Family assistance only customers, see Family assistance customer becomes partnered
• Income support customers, see Change in relationship status from single to partnered
• Parenting Payment customers see Transfer from Parenting Payment Single (PPS) to Parenting Payment Partnered (PPP)

Record details of contact with the customer on a DOC, including their explanation for the different dates and any advice provided to the customer regarding the need to contact Child Support.

Complete the MFU.

Procedure ends here.

The customer will need to contact Child Support to correct the details.

Offer to transfer the customer to Child Support.

Before transferring the customer to Child Support, check the maintenance action for the child/ren - if any of the children have a MAT code of RHH (Reconciliation) on the MNMR screen and the customer advises they have not re-partnered with the other parent:

• code APP from the date of conversation. Tell the customer they need to contact Child Support to have the details updated
• send a Q107 to the customer advising them of the requirement to take action to obtain child support within 28 days. Allow extra time for mail delivery
• in Customer First, create a manual review on the Review Registration (RVR) and complete the fields as follows:
• Service Reason: FTB
• Review Reason: OTH (Other Reasons)
• Due Date: 28 days from date Q107 is sent
• Source: INT
• Date of Receipt: today's date
• Notes: 'Q107 sent xx/xx/xxxx advising customer to take maintenance action. Check for return of Q107. Return to OB 277-51130050 for action.'
• Keywords: MATREV
• Workgroup: leave blank
• Position: leave blank
• Transfer To Region: leave blank
• the review will mature on the Due Date coded in the RVR activity. Workload Management will allocate the review for manual action

Record details of contact with the customer on a DOC including whether the customer was transferred to Child Support or if the customer declined the transfer and was told to contact Child Support directly.

Complete the MFU.

When the review matures, check the MNMR screen for the relevant child/ren to see if the customer has commenced a child support case. If the customer has not commenced a child support case and there are no DOCs to indicate that the customer is pursuing an exemption, code NMA on MNMA for the relevant child/ren. See Maintenance Action Test (MAT) codes

Procedure ends here.

Customer has reconciled - MFU A020MN

• Family assistance only customers - In Customer First:
• issue a Q888 in Customer First using Family assistance becoming partnered letter text, asking the customer to contact and provide required information within 14 days
• create a manual review on the Review Registration (RVR) screen and complete the fields as follows:
  Service Reason: FTB
  Review Reason: OTH (Other Reasons)
  Due Date: 22 days from date Q888 is sent
  Source: INT
  Date of Receipt: today's date
  Notes: 'Q888 issued xx/xx/xxxx requesting partner details. Check response and return to OB 277-51130050 to action.'
  Keywords: ACTFAO
  Workgroup: leave blank
  Position: leave blank
  Transfer To Region: leave blank
• the review will mature on the Due Date coded in the RVR activity. Workload Management will allocate the review for manual action
• For all income support customers, issue a Request for Information (RFI) with a Partner details (MODP) and request Identity Confirmation if necessary. If both members of the couple are in receipt of an income support payment, the RFI must be issued to both customers. For more information, see Change in relationship status from single to partnered or Transfer from Parenting Payment Single (PPS) to Payment Partnered (PPP)

Record details on a DOC and resubmit to ensure the customer is given 14 days to provide information after the request is made (allow 21 days for remote area or overseas customers). Allow extra time for mail delivery.

Complete the MFU.

When the DOC becomes due:

If the customer does not provide the information as requested within the allowed time and the customer is in receipt of:

• Family Assistance only, cancel FTB for reason Failed to Reply to Correspondence (FRC) If the customer is in receipt of Child Care Subsidy (CCS) refer to Level 2 Policy Helpdesk advising 'CCS customer failed to reply to correspondence, zero rate required' include what information is required to correctly assess entitlement
• Income support payment, suspend the ISP for reason FRC. The FTB will automatically cancel if the ISP is suspended or cancelled and not restored within 21 days. For more information see Suspension of payments (CLK) or Suspension of Parenting Payment (PP)

If the customer later re-contacts:

• Family assistance only customers, FTB will need to be restored. If CCS has cancelled the customer will need to reclaim.
• ISP customers, if the Mod P is later provided within the allowable timeframe see Change in relationship status from single to partnered or Transfer from Parenting Payment Single (PPS) to Parenting Payment Partnered (PPP)
• Child Support, the customer will need to contact Child Support in relation to their child support case (if applicable)

Procedure ends here.

Customer has separated - MFU A022MN

For all income support customers:

• issue a Request for Information (RFI) with a Separation Details form (MOD S). If both members of the couple are receiving an ISP then they both must receive an RFI . For more information see Change in relationship status from partnered to single or Transfer from Parenting Payment Partnered (PPP) to Parenting Payment Single (PPS)
• record details on a DOC and resubmit. Make sure the customer is given 14 days to provide information after the request was made (allow 21 days for remote area or overseas customers). Allow extra time for mail delivery, see Requesting information (CLK)
• complete the MFU
• if no response is received by the due date suspend ISP with the reason Failed to Reply to Correspondence (FRC)

For family assistance only customers:

• issue a Request client to contact the office by phone letter (Q164) via online advice
• in Customer First, create a manual review on the Review Registration (RVR) screen and complete the fields as follows:
• Service Reason: FTB
• Review Reason: OTH (Other)
• Due Date: 22 days from today's date
• Source: INT
• Date of Receipt: today's date
• Notes: 'Q888 issued xx/xx/xxxx requesting partner details. Check response and return to OB 277-51130050 to action.'
• Keywords: ACTFAO
• Workgroup: leave blank
• Position: leave blank
• Transfer to Region: leave blank
• the review will mature on the Due Date coded in the RVR activity. Workload Management will allocate the review for manual action
• DOC the record and include:
• advice received from Child Support advising customer has separated from partner
• unsuccessful outbound contact attempt made on (date/time)
• Q164 letter sent requesting customer contact
• if customer contacts and confirms separation see Family Tax Benefit (FTB), Parental Leave Pay (PPL) and/or Child Care Subsidy (CCS) customer separates
• complete the MFU
• if no response has been received by due date, cancel FTB with reason Failed to Reply to Correspondence (FRC)

Is there a court order declaring a person is not a parent?

• Yes, go to Step 2
• No, go to Step 4

Child Support Unit (CSJ) staff only

When the court finds the payer is not the parent of the child a declaration under Section 107 of the Child Support (Assessment) Act 1989 (also known as a Section 107 order) is made.

After Child Support ends the case, the change is reported in the Entitlement File sent to Centrelink. The MAT code is automatically updated to PNX (payer is not a parent) for that entitlement group (MAT passed).

Centrelink procedure

A payee who is affected by this finding of the Court meets the Maintenance Action Test (MAT) for the period the child support case was current.

The case may be ended from a date in the past, as early as the start date of the case.

• Create a new entitlement group on the Maintenance Entitlement Group Summary (MNGS) screen
• Code 'PCP' (parentage cannot be proved) in the old group from the case end date or the date loaded by Child Support, whichever is later
• Replicate the applicable child/ren by coding 'R' next to the relevant child/ren on MNGS, and 'M' next to the new entitlement group. In these cases, the maintenance history from the previous group does not transfer into the new active group
• The child/ren will then need to have their maintenance action updated as applicable in the new entitlement group
• Depending on the changes affecting the case, it may be appropriate to retrospectively update the MAT code in the new active entitlement group. The Level 2 Policy Helpdesk can assist if difficulties are encountered
• Go to Step 3

• Yes, and the customer:
• has proof of parentage, advise them to lodge a new application for child support
• does not have proof of parentage, they may need to seek legal advice in order to obtain child support from the new payer. See Centrelink action on proving parentage for child support
• is seeking an exemption (other than for proof of parentage), see Exemptions from seeking child support for Family Tax Benefit (FTB) customers
• is not seeking an exemption code 'MWP' in the new entitlement group from the date 'PNX' was coded in the old payer group. Send a Q107 to the customer advising them of the requirement to take action to obtain child support within 28 days. Allow extra time for mail delivery. In Customer First, create a manual review on the Review Registration (RVR) screen and complete the fields as follows:
  Service Reason: FTB
  Review Reason: OTH (Other Reasons)
  Due Date: 28 days from date Q107 is sent
  Source: INT
  Date of Receipt: today's date
  Notes: 'MWP MAT code in place from xx/xx/xxxx as payer was not parent. Check if customer has taken maintenance action. Return to OB 277-51130050 for action.'
  Keywords: MATMWP
  Workgroup: leave blank
  Position: leave blank
  Transfer To Region: leave blank
  The review will mature on the Due Date coded in the RVR activity. Workload Management will allocate the review for manual action
• No, request the child's birth certificate and a statement (SS075) about why they wish to seek an exemption. See Exemptions from seeking child support

Go to Step 5.

If the payee believes the payer is not the parent of the child/ren and a child support case has previously been accepted, the payee can request to end the case irrespective of whether or not there is evidence to suggest that the payer is not a parent of the child. Typically, the request is made because the payee accepts that the payer is not the other parent of the child and instead of requiring the payer to take the matter to court, the payee can elect to end the child support case. They can only request to end their case from a specified date that is after the date the election is made, which is at a future date.

If the payee requests to end their case against the other parent nominated on the child's birth certificate, there is no requirement for them to have the name removed from the birth certificate to satisfy the maintenance action test. Child Support does not require removal of a name from a birth certificate to end a case and start a new case with a different payer.

In these cases, Child Support staff will advise the payee that Centrelink will only pay the base rate of FTB Part A unless the payee:

• is simultaneously applying against the parent of the child
• is applying for an exemption, or
• has applied for an exemption

In these cases, Child Support will confirm whether the customer or their current partner is claiming FTB or whether they are intending to claim at FTB at the end of the financial year. Child Support staff will advise the payee to discuss potential impacts with Centrelink before making a decision to end the case. This may mitigate any unnecessary and unexpected financial hardship for the parent. This may include discussions around whether an exemption may be appropriate.

Has the customer lodged another child support application against a new payer?

• Yes, and the case end has loaded:
• Create a new entitlement group on the Maintenance Entitlement Group Summary (MNGS) screen. Code 'PCP' (parentage cannot be proved) in the old group from the case end date or the date loaded by Child Support, whichever is the later
• Replicate the applicable child/ren by coding 'R' next to the relevant child/ren on MNGS, and 'M' next to the new entitlement group. In these cases, the maintenance history from the previous group does not transfer into the new active group
• As the customer has lodged an application against a new payer, the child/ren will need to have their maintenance action updated to 'APP' in the new entitlement group from the date the new application was lodged
• Depending on the changes affecting the case, it may be appropriate to retrospectively update the MAT code in the new active entitlement group. The Level 2 Policy Helpdesk can assist if difficulties are encountered
• No, contact the customer to discuss what action they will be taking once the case is ended:
• Is the customer going to take further action, such as apply against a new payer, or apply for an exemption?
• Advise the customer that they have 28 days to take action and that they will be sent a letter to confirm this requirement.
• Send the customer a Q107 letter
• In Customer First, create a manual review on the Review Registration (RVR) screen and complete the fields as follows:
  Service Reason: FTB
  Review Reason: OTH (Other Reasons)
  Due Date: 28 days from date Q107 is sent
  Source: INT
  Date of Receipt: today's date
  Notes: 'Q107 sent xx/xx/xxxx advising customer to take maintenance action. Check for return of Q107. Return to OB 277-51130050 for action.'
  Keywords: MATREV
  Workgroup: leave blank
  Position: leave blank
  Transfer To Region: leave blank
• The review will mature on the Due Date coded in the RVR activity. Workload Management will allocate the review for manual action

Once the case end has loaded:

• Create a new entitlement group on the Maintenance Entitlement Group Summary (MNGS) screen. Code 'PCP' (parentage cannot be proved) in the old group from the case end date or the date loaded by Child Support, whichever is the later
• Replicate the applicable child/ren by coding 'R' next to the relevant child/ren on the MNGS screen, and 'M' next to the new entitlement group
• Code 'MWP' in the new entitlement group from the date 'PCP' was coded in the old payer group

When the 28 day review matures:

If the customer:

• Applied for child support within the 28 days, code 'APP' on the Maintenance Action Input (MNMA) screen from the appropriate date
• Applied for an exemption within the 28 days, code 'MXR' on the MNMA screen from the date they requested an exemption
• Did not take any action within the 28 days, code 'NMA' on the MNMA screen from the end of the period

Child Support have already commenced a case against a new payer:

A new active maintenance grouping will be established automatically when the new case information is transferred from Child Support via the data exchange. This will result in the child/ren appearing in 2 groups on MNGS. In these cases, the maintenance history from the previous group does not transfer into the new active group. Depending on the changes affecting the case it may be appropriate to retrospectively update the MAT code. The Level 2 Policy Helpdesk can assist if difficulties are encountered.

Code 'PCP' (parentage cannot be proved) in the old group from the case end date.

Go to Step 5.

If a child support case is retrospectively ended or retrospectively made invalid because the payer is no longer considered to be a parent of a child/ren, consideration needs to be given as to whether:

• the payer is considered to be a partner or former partner of the payee’s, and
• any money needs to be repaid by the payee

If the payer:

• is not a partner or former partner of the payee, the amounts paid are not considered maintenance income and should be removed from the MIT
• is a partner or former partner of the payee and a court decision under section 143 is made which requires the payee to repay the money, the amounts paid are not considered maintenance income and should be removed from the MIT
• is a partner or former partner and there is no court decision under section 143 (meaning the payee is not required to repay the money), the amounts paid are considered maintenance income and should not be removed from the MIT

Where the 'payee' is required to repay any amount of child support, (that meets the definition of maintenance income) then the amounts repaid would need to be removed from the MIT in order for the FTB to be reassessed. Only the amounts not required to be repaid should be assessed and recorded. For details on recording the amounts that do not need to be repaid, see Amending maintenance income details on the Override Maintenance Income (MNOI) screen.

Note: if any doubt exists about whether maintenance meets the definition of 'maintenance income for FTB purposes in accordance with the Family Assistance Act, escalate the case to the Level 2 Policy Helpdesk for advice. The Resources page has a link to the Helpdesk.

The Child Support Unit (CSJ) must confirm with Child Support whether the payee is required to repay any money to the payer before reassessing the FTB entitlement.

Procedure ends here.

Where the customer indicates that family and domestic violence is a factor, see further information in Exemptions from seeking child support for Family Tax Benefit (FTB) customers.

If the customer contacts Child Support requesting to end a case due to a fear of family and domestic violence, they will advise the customer that they need to talk to a Centrelink social worker about an exemption from seeking child support and warm transfer them prior to ending a case.

If the payee wants to end their case for any other reason not described above, for example the customer has a private arrangement and does not want Child Support involved:

• From 1 July 2018 Centrelink approval is no longer required for Child Support to accept an election to end an assessment. However, if a parent or their current partner is receiving, or is entitled to receive more than the base rate of FTB Part A, their rate may be reduced to the base rate if they do not have an exemption
• Prior to accepting the election to end, Child Support will discuss the implications of the election to end on the payees FTB Part A entitlement, to minimise any unexpected, unnecessary financial hardship for the parent. Child Support may transfer the customer through to Families staff to discuss further where necessary. This may include discussions around whether an exemption may be appropriate

Note: Secretary approval was required to end a child support assessment on a WA ex-nuptial case between 1 July 2018 and 14 May 2019. See WA Child Support ex-nuptial cases.

From 1 July 2008, there is now only 1 child support case rather than 2 in the event that the parents either share the care of the child/ren, or the parents have sole care of at least 1 child each.

For more information about what to do if the other parent contacts or a case end is received for the payer, see Table 3, Item 2.

Where a customer with a VIO exemption switches from being the payee to the payer in a case, they should be advised that the exemption is no longer applicable. In these circumstances the payer workaround should be applied to increase the payer's Family Tax Benefit (FTB) Part A to more than base rate.

The customer that is now the payee should have their MAT code reviewed. See Table 3, Item 6 in Child support Manual Follow-up (MFU) activities and automatic reviews.

Effect on Maintenance Action Test (MAT)

If the child support case is ended, the customer will pass or fail the MAT depending on what the child/case end reason sent by Child Support is. Below is a list of codes that may be used by Child Support:

• MAT passes:
• DVE: Case end by Child Support - domestic violence
• ALE: Child end by Child Support - actual vs lawful
• CDE: Child end by Child Support - child deceased
• PNF: Child end by Child Support - payer is not a parent
• PNW: Case end by Child Support - payer not Australian resident
• PNX: Case end by Child Support - payer is not a parent
• RHH: Case end by Child Support - reconciliation
• MAT fails:
• CCE: Child Support case ended by customer (stage 2)
• OEV: Child end by Child Support - other reasons
• OTV: Case end by Child Support - other reasons
• CLP: Child end by Child Support - child left care

Maintenance Income Test (MIT)

Backdated family and domestic violence exemptions

• Child Support Collect customer ends their case and has arrears of child support owing:
• When a child support collect customer is granted an exemption and they have a current collect case, there may be outstanding arrears owing on the Child Support case. Although, customers can no longer ask Child Support to backdate the case end to align with the exemption start date, they can elect to discharge any arrears without having the amount taken into account for the MIT due to the exemption. This effectively means that there is no requirement to backdate exemptions in these cases as the customer's FTB entitlement will be re-calculated at FTB reconciliation, based on the actual amount of child support received for all child support collect periods during the financial year
• Private collect customer ends their case and advises they were unable to collect their full child support assessment:
• If a customer has a private collect child support case and there are family and domestic violence circumstances present, it may be appropriate to backdate an exemption. The backdating of the exemption is to offset the effect of child support that the customer was deemed to have received, but may not have received due to family and domestic violence circumstances. This enables Centrelink to re-assess their FTB entitlement at the end of the financial year when their FTB entitlement is reconciled based on the actual amount of child support they received during the period the exemption applies

There is no time limit on how far back the exemption can be applied, however there are limits on how far back arrears of FTB can be paid. See Exemptions from seeking child support for Family Tax Benefit (FTB) customers for further information.

If a debt or arrears are generated by the case end data from Child Support, transfer the MFU to the Child Support Unit (CSJ). CSJ will investigate and take any required action.

Note: when a child/case end is transferred by Child Support for a Child Support Collect customer on the Disbursement method, the system retrospectively changes the case to Private Collect and applies the full maintenance entitlement amount.

This retrospective change in assessment results in the customer having their annualised maintenance income assessed under the Entitlement Method. In the majority of cases, this will result in a decrease in the customer's ongoing rate of FTB Part A. This change in annualised maintenance income can also invoke Mandatory Continuous Adjustment, causing a further reduction to the customer's ongoing rate of FTB.

This is not caused by incorrectly entered/ended case data or a system problem, however it can lead to an unintended and unexpected reduction to the customer's ongoing rate. Occurrences of this issue must be reported to the Level 2 Policy Helpdesk for escalation to the Policy (Advice) Assessment Team for a workaround to be considered. The Resources page has a link.

In some cases, maintenance income received after the case end date should not be treated as maintenance income. These cases are:

• Reconciliation; payments are not deemed as income as they are redistributed within the family unit
• Death of payer, payments no longer fit the definition of maintenance income as they were not paid by a parent of the child, more likely from the deceased's estate (however, this does not apply to capitalised maintenance, which continues to be assessed)

The Child Support Unit (CSJ) must confirm with Child Support whether the payee is required to repay any money to the payer before reassessing the FTB entitlement.

See Action required when Family Tax Benefit (FTB) customer no longer entitled to child support.

If maintenance income had previously affected the rate of FTB and it is no longer considered maintenance income, the general rule is that FTB arrears are payable for the FTB instalment period with the following date of effect.

For Centrelink initiated reviews, under section 107 of the Family Assistance (Administration) Act 1999:

• If the review decision is made within 52 weeks of notification of the original decision about the rate of FTB or by the end of the financial year after the financial year in which the child support decision takes effect, full arrears are payable
• If the review decision is made more than 52 weeks after notification of the original decision about the rate of FTB, and made in a financial year later than the year following the financial year in which the child support decision takes effect, arrears are payable from the beginning of the financial year before the review decision is made

For customer initiated reviews under section 109E of the Family Assistance (Administration) Act 1999:

• If the review decision is made within 52 weeks of notification of the original decision about the rate of FTB or by the end of the financial year after the financial year in which the child support decision takes effect, full arrears are payable
• If the review decision is made more than 52 weeks after notification of the original decision about the rate of FTB, and made in a financial year later than the year following the financial year in which the child support decision takes effect, arrears are payable from the beginning of the financial year before the application for review was made
• In cases where the payer is no longer considered a parent of the child and the payee is required because of a court order to repay child support, full FTB arrears can be paid, where a review has been requested within 13 weeks of the date the customer received notification from Child Support or within 52 weeks of the original decision being made
• In cases where the payer in a child support assessment is no longer considered a parent of the child due to a court decision under section 107 of the Child Support (Assessment) Act, consideration needs to be given as to whether the original payer is considered a partner or former partner of the payee, and whether the payee is required to repay the money to the payer (under a Section 143 order). If the original payer:
• is no longer considered a parent of the child/ren and is not considered a former partner, the amounts paid are not considered maintenance income and should be removed from the MIT as they no longer meet the definition of maintenance income (even if the payee is not required to repay the money)
• is still considered a parent of the child/ren or is no longer considered a parent of the child/ren but is considered a former partner, the amounts paid continued to be considered maintenance income unless the payee is required to repay the money. If the payee is required to repay the money (i.e. due to a Section 143 order), the amounts no longer meet the definition of maintenance income
• if the amounts should be removed from the MIT due to no longer meeting the definition of 'maintenance income' as defined in the Family Assistance Act, full FTB arrears can be paid where a review has been requested within 13 weeks of the date the customer received notification for Child Support or within 52 weeks of the original decision being made

Section 109E(3) of the Family Assistance (Administration) Act can be applied so that there is no limit on the period for which arrears are payable.

If the payer has received Family Tax Benefit (FTB) for any period that child support was paid for and that child support is no longer considered maintenance income because of a child support decision, the payer's DCME, which reduces Adjusted Taxable Income (ATI), will need to be amended.

The result is that the payer's DCME will be lower and the payer's ATI will be higher. The FTB of the payer or their partner should be re-reconciled and an FTB debt may occur.

It is appropriate in certain circumstances to waive some of these debts. The decision as to whether or not the payer must repay the debt should be based on their individual circumstances. The following guidelines will apply:

• If the court orders under section 143 of the Child Support (Assessment) Act 1989 repayment of the child support to the payer, it would be reasonable to raise an FTB debt against the payer
• If the court deems that the child support does not need to be repaid because to do so would be detrimental to the welfare of the child, it would be unreasonable to further penalise the payer so the debt should be waived under section 101 of the Family Assistance (Administration) Act 1999

The restrictions in the child support legislation about voluntary ending of an assessment extend to situations where the partner of the child support payee is receiving more than base rate FTB Part A for the child.

This includes situations where the FTB customer's partner needs to take action to obtain child support for a child from a previous relationship.

Advise the child support payee that if their current partner fits either of the below criteria approval from Centrelink is required before Child Support can end their case:

• receiving more than the base rate of FTB Part A for the child, or
• is legislatively entitled to receive more than the base rate of FTB Part A for the child but is receiving the base rate due to a payment choice