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Child Support Agency

If you are raising your grandchildren (or if you are a non-parent carer of any kind) the law says it is the responsibility of the parents to ensure financial support is available for their children.

The Child Support Agency is set up to assess claims and ensure assistance is received. You can contact them on 13 1272 for enquiries and assessment. The following guidelines have been set out by the agency for clarification.

Applications for Child Support from non-parent carers

Key Points:

- A person can have a child support assessment even if they are not the parent of a child, for example, if a grandparent or other relative is caring for a child. They can have child support if they have substantial care, that is, care for more than 109 nights in a year.

- The child support assessment is exactly the same, with some minor exceptions:

+ Non-parents can claim child support from either or both parents.

+ The combined liability of both parents is limited to 1.5 times the maximum possible child support liability.

+ A child support assessment does not use the income of the non-parent carer, regardless of how much they earn.

- A non-parent carer is not eligible to receive child support if the child’s parent has indicated that they do not consent to that person caring for the child, unless it is unreasonable for the parent to provide that care.

- In determining whether it is unreasonable for a parent to provide care, CSA will look to see if there has been extreme family breakdown, or whether there is a serious risk to the child’s physical or mental wellbeing from violence or sexual abuse in the home of the parent. CSA will seek advice from Centrelink social workers.

Other points to note:

- If a child is cared for jointly with another person, only one of the joint carers can apply for child support. If a non-parent cares for a child jointly with a parent, the application for child support must come from the parent.

- If you are a foster parent different rules apply in different States. Please talk to us or the relevant State Government welfare agency for further information.