30 August 2019
Family law – Binding child support agreements – Registration and assessment
Does a binding child support agreement need to be submitted to the Child Support Agency for approval/registration?
Thank you for the question.
If a child support administrative assessment is in place, then the binding child support agreement should be registered with the Child Support Registrar. Otherwise, the Department of Human Services (Child Support), formerly the Child Support Agency, will continue to collect, if required, the assessed amount rather than the agreed amount. Even if they do not collect, its records will continue to reflect an incorrect amount which can cause problems with other Centrelink payments.
If no child support administrative assessment is in place and there are no enforcement issues, or potential issues, some parties prefer not to register their agreements. Registration triggers notional assessments on an annual or more frequent basis and some parties do not want any contact with the agency.
If the binding child support agreement includes non-periodic payments, then it is advisable to register the agreement with the Family Court pursuant to r 4.19 of the Family Law Rules 2004 (Cth).
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