The Law Handbook 2024

274 Section 4: Relationships, families and young people tax refunds. Services Australia can impose a penalty for late payments (s 67 Collection Act). See ‘Late payment penalties’, below. Non-agency payments A parent who has less than 14 per cent care of their children (i.e. less than one night per week) can make direct payments to the other parent or to a third party for the benefit of the child. These are called ‘non- agency payments’ ( NAP ). Keep proof of payment to send to Services Australia (e.g. bank deposit stubs, receipts or a bank statement). If Services Australia is not notified, these payments may not be taken into account. If both parents agree that the payment was meant as child support, Services Australia will credit the NAP amount towards child support (ss 71, 71A Collection Act). If both parents do not agree that the payment was meant as child support, Services Australia can only credit the amount if it falls under a special type of NAP specified in regulation 5D (known as a prescribed payment) of the Child Support (Registration and Collection) Regulations 1988 (Cth) (‘ Collection Regulations ’) and at the time the payment was made the payer has less than 14 per cent care of the relevant children. Specified payments in regulation 5D of the Collection Regulations are: • childcare costs; • pre-school or school fees; • uniforms and school books; • medical and dental services; • rent or security bond for the payee’s home; • utilities (e.g. gas, phone, electricity), rates or owners’ corporation charges for the payee’s home; • home loan on payee’s home; and • purchase, running or repair costs of payee’s motor vehicle. Services Australia will credit specified payments at the rate of 30 per cent of the assessed child support each payment period, if the balance of child support is paid on time. Payees who receive more than the base rate of FTB need to be aware that when Centrelink is notified of a prescribed payment, this payment will be included in the maintenance income test used to calculate FTB. Child support debt It is important to get legal advice as soon as you get behind in making child support payments as time limits may apply to certain applications to reduce the debt. You are still required to pay off your child support debt after the assessment has ended or after the child has turned 18. In some circumstances, you may seek an administrative review of your outstanding child support debt through Services Australia or through the court system. Assessment A parent may not be able to pay child support at the rate assessed by Services Australia, causing a child support debt. A parent may be able to apply to pay less. (See ‘How to change child support’, above.) Late payment penalties Where Services Australia has imposed late payment penalties, you may request that they waive the penalties. This is called ‘remission of penalty’ (s 68 Collection Act). Departure prohibition order If a parent has not made satisfactory arrangements to pay a large child support debt, Services Australia may prevent them from leaving Australia by making a departure prohibition order (s 72D Collection Act). Enforcement order Where there are outstanding child support payments either Services Australia or a parent can apply to the court for an order for payment of the child support debt. The court can make an enforcement order, such as for seizure and sale of property and attachment of earnings (chapter 20 of the Family Law Rules 2004 (Cth)). See also ‘Private collection’, above. Centrelink and child support If you are applying for a Centrelink benefit, Centrelink may ask you to apply for child support within 13 weeks. Parents who do not do this may be paid at the minimum rate of FTB Part A. The amount of child support payments that a person receives may affect the FTB paid to that person. For