Bibliographies
The following bibliography has been compiled from the Australian Family & Society Abstracts database and other resources held in the Institute's library. Where available a link to the document on the Web is provided. Most items can be borrowed from the Institute's library via the inter library loan system. Online publications in PDF format require Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Child support
A comparison of
child support schemes in selected countries.
Australia. Ministerial Taskforce on Child Support. Secretariat
Canberra, ACT: Ministerial Taskforce on Child Support, 2005, 19p, Online
(PDF 180K)
The operation of child support schemes in
Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, Norway and the United
States are compared in this paper. It looks at the history and context
of the schemes, government assistance for the schemes, their interaction
with family law, and key positive and negative elements of the
schemes.
A snapshot of contemporary attitudes to child support.
Smyth, Bruce; Weston, Ruth
Melbourne, Vic: Australian Institute
of Family Studies, 2005, 106p, tables, figures, (Research report no.13)
and Online
This report presents a snapshot of contemporary
attitudes to child support in Australia. The Attitudes to Child Support
Study on which the report is based represents the first detailed
Australian investigation of these attitudes, and was conducted to help
inform the work of the 2004 - 2005 Ministerial Taskforce on Child
Support. The study is predicated on the belief that community
perceptions, values and expectations need to be understood as part of the
evolving nature of child support policy. Key findings from the study
were that: most (77 percent) of the respondents in the general population
had heard of the Child Support Scheme; most non resident fathers believed
that the Scheme was not working well (62 percent) and was unfair (74
percent); and resident mothers were evenly divided on the Scheme's
functioning and fairness. This report is divided into the following
sections: the broad principles underpinning the Scheme; new partners,
second families and parent-child contact; suggested changes to the
Scheme; and findings.
Application of efficiency to child support.
Farr, Anthony; Buurman, Gary
Agenda: a Journal of Policy Analysis
and Reform v.12 no.4 2005: 323-334, figures
The application
of the concept of efficiency, taken from the study of taxation, to child
support is explored. The article provides an overview of the Australian
Child Support Scheme, including the child support formula. It explains
why the concept of efficiency should be applied to child support and
discusses the poverty trap and effective marginal tax rates. It presents
a model that examines the effect of involuntary child support payments on
the non resident parent's effective marginal tax rate and, hence, on
their incentive to work.
Bringing fathers back in: child support in
Australia.
Burgess, Adrienne
Public Policy Research
v.12 no.1 Mar 2005: 49-55
This article covers the history and
development of child maintenance and support policies in the United
Kingdom and Australia. The ways in which systems are changing to
accommodate current social and political attitudes towards parental
responsibility and involvement are also discussed.
Child support and non-agency payments.
Gerschwitz, J
Current Family Law v.9 no.2 Apr 2003: 69-71
The author explains what non agency payments are, how they can be
made, and the Child Support Agency's role in collecting them. She
explains that the payment must be made in respect of an enforceable
maintenance liability, and can only be credited if it was intended to be
in lieu of child support or if it falls within the realm of regulation 5D
of the Child Support (Registration and Collection) Regulations Act
1988.
Child support on the move - a regular column from Current Family Law
Bishop, Jane
Current Family Law v.11 no.1 Feb 2005: 16-18
A parent can
object to a Child Support Agency decision they think is wrong, providing
certain grounds are met. This article explains the criteria that a valid
objection must meet: it must relate to a decision that has an objection
right; it must be in writing from the parent objecting to the decision;
it must state fully and in detail the grounds of the objection; and must
be lodged within 28 days.
Bishop, Jane
Current Family Law v.11 no.2 Apr 2005: 77-78
The Child
Support Agency (CSA) is obliged to protect client information. In some
circumstances it can forward important documents to the other parent on
behalf of a client. This article explains when the CSA will forward
documents, including legal documents, to the other parent.
Fahey, Lauren
Current Family Law v.11 no.3 June 2005: 124-125
Court
applications under the Child Support (Assessment) Act by parents or
carers are explained in this article. The article lists common types of
applications and explains who the parties to an application are.
Fahey, Lauren
Current Family Law v.11 no.4 Aug 2005: 181-183
The report of
the Ministerial Taskforce on Child Support, entitled 'In the best
interests of children', was released in June 2005. This article
summarises the report's recommendations in the following areas: a new
child support formula; regular contact and shared care; ensuring parents
meet their obligations to their children; parents' agreements about child
support matters; and changes to the Change of Assessment function.
Fahey, Lauren
Current Family Law v.11 no.5 Oct 2005: 227-228
Departure
prohibition orders (DPO) prevent a person who has a child support debt
from departing Australia. This article explains the grounds for the
making of a DPO, notification requirements, revoking or varying a DPO and
appeal and review.
Fahey, Lauren
Current Family Law v.11 no.6 Dec 2005: 279-281
Child support
agreements can be varied or put aside in certain circumstances. This
article explains variation by subsequent agreement, variation of the
terms of an agreement by the court, the court's power to set aside an
agreement, and appeals against acceptance of an agreement.
Sichter, Amanda
Current Family Law v.12 no.1 Feb 2006: 13-14
The ways that
the Child Support Agency can be satisfied that a person named as a liable
parent for child support reasons is actually a parent of a particular
child are listed. The article describes the options for the unsuccessful
child support applicant in the case of refusal of an application for
child support because none of these situations exist. It also explains
the effect of a declaration under Section 106 of the Child Support
(Assessment) Act.
Child support policy in Australia. Back to basics?
Smyth, Bruce
Family Matters no.67 Autumn 2004: 42-45, and Online
(PDF 91K)
Consistent with its legislative responsibility to
investigate factors affecting the well being of children and families.
The Australian Institute of Family Studies has maintained an interest in
the development and evaluation of Australia's Child Support Scheme. This
article sets out some of the conceptual challenges that are likely to
confront any legislative reform to overhaul the Scheme, as recommended by
the recent parliamentary inquiry into child custody arrangements after
parental separation, and argues that the values underlying the original
establishment of the Scheme should be borne in mind when making
recommendations for change.
Child support scheme: facts and figures 2004-05.
Child
Support Agency (Australia)
Belconnen, ACT: Child Support Agency,
Department of Human Services, 2006, 66p, tables, figures, and Online (PDF
1MB)
This report is the ninth edition of the publication, and
provides statistics and other information, collected from agencies and
government departments, about the Child Support Scheme for the period
2004-2005. It provides a brief overview and history of the Scheme and how
it works. It then presents information on: child support customers;
maintenance action being taken by family tax benefit customers; active
caseload; caseload by stage and collection method; international cases;
assessment type; change of assessment; type of care arrangement; number
of customers; number of children; number and gender of payers and payees;
age of cases; income of payers and payees; income sources of Child
Support Agency payers who lodge tax returns; liabilities; payments; legal
services; and savings and costs.
Child support: enforcement matters.
Forrest,
Colin
In: Beyond the horizon: conference handbook: 11th National
Family Law Conference, Gold Coast, September 2004. Melbourne, Vic:
Television Education Network, 2004, p465-481
The statutory
and rules based framework for court based enforcement of child support
liabilities is discussed in this paper. The paper also looks at the
enforcement capabilities of the Child Support Agency, the current
divergence in the rules based enforcement process available in the Family
Court and the Federal Magistrates Court, and some practical aspects of
the enforcement hearing process.
Collecting child support payments: when, how and
why?
Aleema, Prem
Australian Family Lawyer v.18 no.1
Summer 2005: 42-46
When, how and why does the Child Support
Agency (CSA) register a child support assessment or court order for
collection? This article explains the Child Support Scheme and answers
the above questions. It discusses the effect of registration, collecting
child support by salary deductions, the election to end and resume CSA
collection, CSA initiated private collection, payments to third parties
or direct to the payee, and objection and appeal rights relating to CSA
collection.
CSA's involvement in court proceedings.
Cuthbert, Jean
Australian Family Lawyer v.17 no.4 Spring 2004:
37-41
The Child Support Scheme aims for parents to be able to
have child support assessed without the need for court proceedings, but
there are occasions when court proceedings are brought. This article
explains the kinds of proceedings that can be brought, who the parties to
those proceedings are, when the Child Support Agency (CSA) will intervene
in court matters, and how the CSA will respond to subpoenas for the
production of child support records in court proceedings.
Dealing with separation: experiences, tips and
tools.
Child Support Agency (Australia)
Canberra,
ACT: Child Support Agency, 2005, CD ROM
Information on how to
deal with separation is presented on this CD ROM. It includes tips for
rebuilding relationships with children after separation; practical ideas
for looking after yourself after separation; times on how to build a
business like relationship with the other parent; tips on management of
personal finances; tips on living with step families or blended families;
and answers to frequently asked questions about child support.
Disposable income tables: demonstrating family income before
and after separation.
Child Support Agency (Australia).
Business Analysis Group
Canberra, ACT: Child Support Agency, 2005,
29p, tables
These tables show household income available to
families at various income levels with different numbers of eligible
children. The tables show income before and after separation, and income
for the payer and the payee of child support where the payer has a new
family. The tables also show various government benefits.
Earning capacity and child support: the fascination with
motivation continues.
Young, Lisa
Current Family Law
v.10 no.4 Aug 2004: 178-189
Earning capacity in child support
matters can become relevant where one party challenges an assessment
because the income figure used does not accurately reflect the other
party's capacity to earn an income. This article provides a background
to the role of earning capacity in child support assessments and
considers when reasons for unemployment or underemployment should be
relevant. It argues that ensuring appropriate support for children should
be the rationale for earning capacity decisions.
External review of Child Support Agency decisions: the case
for a tribunal.
Wolffs, Tammy
AIAL Forum no.43 Oct
2004: 55-72, figure, table
In its 2003 report on child
custody arrangements the Senate Standing Committee on Family and
Community Affairs recommended that the decisions of the Child Support
Agency (CSA) be subject to review by an external tribunal. However, the
Government has excluded this recommendation from consideration by the
Ministerial Taskforce and Reference Group set up to review the operation
of the Child Support Scheme. This article discusses both the need for
external review of CSA decisions and ways of implementing such a
process.
Financial outcomes for parents after
separation.
Silvey, Jerry; Birrell, Bob
People
and Place v.12 no.1 2004: 46-57, tables, and Online (PDF 172K)
This article examines the financial circumstances of separated parents
who were registrants of the Australian Child Support Agency (CSA) at the
time of separation (in 1997) and who remained registrants until at least
2001. The data facilitate a unique longitudinal analysis of matched
separated couples over the crucial early years of their separation. The
men in question were predominantly on low incomes some one to two years
prior to registering with 45 per cent earning less than $15,600 per
annum. Their situation did not change much between 1997 and 2001. Over
these four years slightly more men moved out of this low income category
than moved into it. Conversely movements in income for those men earning
more than $15,600 appear to be in line with working age men in the
general population. These findings do not confirm the supositions of
those who believe significant numbers of CSA registrants seek to evade
their obligations by reducing their engagement in the labour market after
separation. Indeed this evidence supports other research suggesting that
poverty or ongoing financial pressures are driving separation. This issue
of a high percentage of men remaining on low incomes after separation has
been recently responded to by government in a new initiative targeting
newly separated and unemployed non-resident parents. Most mothers of
their children are low income recipients at the time of the separation
and remain so four years later. Their average incomes are under $15,600
per annum irrespective of the income of the fathers. Because of the
predominantly low income of the paying fathers, their CSA liabilities are
low and as a result do not add significantly to the mother's income.
(Journal abstract)
In the best interests of children: reforming the
Child Support Scheme: report.
Australia. Ministerial
Taskforce on Child Support
Canberra, ACT: Ministerial Taskforce on
Child Support, 2005, 284p, tables, figures, and Online
(PDF 1.4MB)
This
report from the Ministerial Taskforce on Child Support recommends
fundamental changes to the assessment of child support obligations and to
the administration of the child support formula. The report is divided
into the following sections: Overview; Establishment of the child support
review; The evolution of the Child Support Scheme; The formula for
assessment of child support; The interaction of child support with
government payments to families; Evaluating the scheme in operation;
Issues with the current scheme; Principles for a new child support
formula; The costs of children; A new formula for assessing child
support; Improving assessment and enforcement of child support; Child
support and the maintenance income test; Change of assessment; Child
support agreements; Child support and re establishment costs after
relationships break down; Child support and the Family Relationship
Centres; Modelling the outcomes of the proposed formula; and, Other
issues related to administration of the scheme.
In the best interests of
children: reforming the Child Support Scheme: summary report and
recommendations.
Australia. Ministerial Taskforce on
Child Support
Canberra, ACT: Ministerial Taskforce on Child
Support, 2005, 36p, tables, and Online (PDF 346K)
The
Ministerial Taskforce on Child Support analysed the operation of the
existing Child Support Scheme and proposed alternatives. This summary
report gives the background to the review and discusses a new child
support formula for Australia; assessing the costs of children; taking
account of regular contact and shared care; ensuring parents meet their
obligations to their children; helping parents to agree; and expected
outcomes from the reforms.
Innovation at the Australian Child Support
Agency.
O'Hanlon, Mary L; Stevenson, Cheryl
Journal
of Family Studies v.11 no.2 Oct 2005: 197-204
This paper
outlines the thinking behind a number of innovative services developed by
the Child Support Agency (CSA) in Australia in recent years. Helping to
meet parents' needs beyond their legal child support responsibilities is
a vital component of Agency service delivery. While there is still some
way to go before there is a fully integrated family law system, CSA
continues to develop greater shared understandings about the experience
of separation and the demands placed on parents. (Journal abstract)
Modernising the Child Support Scheme: some
reflections.
Smyth, Bruce
Family Matters no.71
Winter 2005: 58-61
A ministerial taskforce recently proposed
a major overhaul of the Child Support Scheme. While government is
currently considering the Taskforce's recommendations, there is little
doubt that this review has acted as a stimulus for the collection and
integration of a raft of new data to help improve and 'modernise' the
Scheme. The author, one of the members of the Taskforce, reflects on the
work of the Taskforce in the push towards evidence based policy in the
context of a much larger family law reform agenda. He outlines three
fundamental proposed changes to the current scheme: that the incomes of
both parents count; that the children's ages count, with higher costs
allocated for adolescent children; and that the financial costs of
contact to non resident parents count.
Paternal instinct.
Cannold, Leslie
Eureka Street
v.15 no.5 Jun 2005: 14-16, and Online
This article discusses
the effects of changes to law and practice governing child support and
access arrangements after divorce in the last two decades. It looks at
misattributed biological paternity, DNA testing and motives for testing,
child support obligations, biological and social definitions of
fatherhood, and the interests of children.
Privacy and secrecy: how the Child Support Agency protects
personal information.
Harden, Nigel; Cuthbert, Jean
Australian Family Lawyer v.17 no.2 Autumn 2004: 17-18
The
Commonwealth Child Support (Assessment) Act 1989 and Child Support
(Registration and Collection) Act 1988 govern the use and disclosure of
information obtained by the Child Support Agency to make decisions about
liability and collection of child support. The authors discuss issues of
privacy and when the agency can give out protected information.
Reciprocal child support arrangements under the US -
Australian treaty.
Keough, William J
Law Institute
Journal v.78 no.6 Jun 2004: 62-65
In 2002, the Australian and
United States governments signed a treaty the purpose of which is to
provide reciprocal arrangements between the two countries for recognising
and enforcing both child support and, to a limited extent, spousal
maintenance liabilities. The author discusses problems of enforcement
prior to the treaty and significant aspects of the treaty. He argues that
the treaty has some significant benefits for the administration of child
support in Australia.
Refunding child support: when DNA testing shows payer is not
the biological father.
Eades, John; Dowd, Justin
Law
Society Journal v.43 no.8 Sept 2005: 32, 34
A person who has
paid child support and is subsequently found not liable may apply to a
court, under the Child Support (Assessment) Act, for a repayment. This
article considers liability under the Act, damages for deceit or wrongful
birth, factors relevant to an application and proposed further
legislation. It discusses the decision in the case of DRP v AJL (2004)
and the effect of section 143 of the Act.
Report on the population impact of the new child support formula.
Australian Government. Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. August 2008.
This report outlines the population-level impact of the thfird stage of the child support reforms including the new child support formula that took effect on 1 July 2008. The results are based on actual new child support assessments effective as of that date and modelling of the Family Tax Benefit (FTB) that would be payable. The report found that there was a reduction of around 7% in the total amount of child support assessed to be paid under the scheme (with the offset by additional FTB payments). 37% of payees and 51% of payers were found to have net increases as a result of the reforms (i.e., they received more or paid less respectively) and 49% of payees and 33% of payers had net reductions (i.e., they received less or paid more, respectively). In the majority of cases, the changes were for $20 a week or less for both payees and payers, and in a large proportion of cases, the changes were for less than $10 a week.
Sperm donors beware: donation 'in the usual way' will render
you liable to pay child support.
Cooper, Donna
Queensland Lawyer v.24 no.2 Oct 2003: 76-78
Only men who have
donated sperm to be used in an artificial conception procedure are
protected from legal responsibilities such as paying child support. The
author discusses two cases that illustrate the distinction between
natural and artificial: B v 3(1996) and ND and BM (2003).
Step-parents and child support.
Farrar,
Denis
Australian Family Lawyer v.18 no.3 Spring 2005: 39-42
Under the Family Law Act and the Child Support Assessment Act, a
separated parent who has a relevant dependent child, such as a stepchild,
will have to pay less child support to his or her natural children. This
article explains the relevance of the Family Law Rules and explores
judicial decisions in relation to these pieces of legislation.
The Australian Child Support Agency: debt study and follow-up
on intensive debt collection process.
Shephard, Allan
Family Court Review v.43 no.3 Jul 2005: 387-401, tables, figures
The rapid growth in debt by the Child Support Agency prompted
the development of strategies to decrease the growth in owed child
support. A debt study was conducted in 2002 and was followed by an
intensive debt collection policy that began operation in 2003 - 2004.
The debt study identified 12 categories of payer parents with major debt
and examined which enforcement methods were most successful in collecting
debt. This article describes the objectives, methodology and outcomes of
the debt study.
The legal practitioner's guide: precedents for child
support agreements and court orders.
Family Law
Council (Australia); Law Council of Australia. Family Law Section; Child
Support Agency (Australia)
Canberra, ACT: Family Law Section, Law
Council of Australia and Child Support Agency, 2004, 42p, and Online
This guide provides precedents for court orders and
child support agreements made under the Child Support (Assessment) Act
1989. It aims to assist family law practitioners and their clients. The
guide covers: departure orders or agreements that vary the child support
assessment; departure orders or agreements that provide for a lump sum or
payments to third parties; court orders about parentage or step parents;
and court orders staying the child support assessment pending
proceedings.
When
tax collectors become collectors for child support and student loans.
Jeopardizing the revenue base?
Ahmed, Eliza;
Braithwaite, Valerie
Canberra, ACT: Centre for Tax System
Integrity, Australian National University, 2005, 31p, tables, (Working
paper no.67), Online (PDF 304K)
The paper investigates the
relationship between making additional payments to the state for student
loan (via the Higher Education Contribution Scheme) and child support
(via the Child Support Scheme) and compliance with tax law. Data are
taken from the Community Hopes, Fears, and Actions Survey based on a
random sample of 2040 individuals. Additional payments were found to pose
a compliance problem for tax authorities. At the same time, this study
demonstrated that perceived deterrence, moral obligation and possible
trustworthiness play significant roles in reducing tax evasion. The study
found that tax evasion is more likely to accompany additional payments
when personal income and belief in trust norms are low. The finding of
greater tax evasion among economically marginalized groups has been
demonstrated in other contexts, but the adverse effects of becoming
irreconcilably socially marginalized from legal authority has tended to
be both undervalued and under-theorized in the taxation compliance
literature. (Author abstract, edited)