Australia's Child Support Scheme

November 2021

© Commonwealth of Australia 2021
ISBN: 978-1-76093-278-7

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Members

List of Recommendations

Acronyms and abbreviations

Chapter 1—Introduction

  Inquiry referral and extension
  Scope of the third interim report
  Structure of the third interim report
  Scope of the committee's prior reports
  Conduct of the inquiry
  Prior inquiries and reviews
  Note on the merger of the Federal Circuit Court of Australia and the Family Court of Australia
  Acknowledgements

Chapter 2—Background

  Child support statistics
  General commentary on the CSS
  Legislative framework
  Interaction between the Scheme and court orders
  Child support assessments
  Collecting child support payments
  Remedies for non-compliance

Chapter 3—Issues

  General issues raised by inquiry participants
  Specific issues raised regarding the assessment formula

Chapter 4—Committee view and recommendations

  Scheme accessibility
  Stakeholder consultation
  Co-location of child support officers in family law courts
  Publicly available data and transparency
  Child support payment debt and government guarantee
  Proving parentage
  Financial abuse and family violence
  Lump sum payments
  Issues raised during the inquiry
  Child support assessment formula

Dissenting Report of Senator Pauline Hanson

  The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT)
  Child Support
  Conclusion

Appendix 1—Submissions and Additional Information

Appendix 2—Public Hearings

Appendix 3—List of child support inquiries and reports

Appendix 4—Cost of Children Table

Appendix 5—Progress of the Australian Government's response to the recommendations of the 2015 Child Support Report

Committee Secretariat contact:

Senior Clerk's Office
Department of the Senate
PO Box 6100
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600

Phone: +61 2 6277 3555
Fax: +61 2 6277 5809
seniorclerk.committees.sen@aph.gov.au

About this inquiry

The Joint Select Committee on Australia's Family Law System was appointed by resolution of the Senate on 18 September 2019 and resolution of the House of Representatives on 19 September 2019.



Past Public Hearings

19 May 2021: Canberra
23 Nov 2020: Canberra
16 Sep 2020: Canberra

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