Child support
What is child support and who can get it
Child support is an amount of money paid between separated parents to help with the cost of raising their children.
It can also be paid between a parent and a non-parent carer.
Non-parent carers
A non-parent carer can be a grandparent, legal guardian or other person caring for a child.
If you care for a child and you’re not their parent, you may get child support if both of the following apply:
- you care for the child for at least 128 nights per year
- you are not the partner of either of the child’s parents.
You can find out more about child support for non-parent carers on the Services Australia website.
Child support options
You can manage your child support in 3 different ways. You can:
- get a child support assessment then transfer the money yourselves
- get a child support assessment then Services Australia will collect and transfer the money
- self-manage.
If you ask for a child support assessment, Services Australia will work out who needs to pay child support and how much it will be. Services Australia can then collect and transfer the payments, or you can organise this yourself.
If you choose to self-manage, you and the other person will manage your payments. You will decide together how much, when and how to pay child support. However, you may get less Family Tax Benefit (FTB) if you self-manage.
If you get FTB and can’t apply for a child support assessment for any reason, call the Centrelink families line on the Services Australia website. There may be other options for you.
There is more information on the Services Australia website about:
Tell Services Australia about changes
If you pay or receive child support, you need to tell Services Australia as soon as your circumstances change. This includes any changes to your income or your child’s care arrangements.
If you don’t tell Services Australia about changes to your child’s care arrangements within 28 days you may get a debt or overpayment.
Find out more about change of circumstances on the Services Australia website.
What other payments you can get when separating
Find out about payments you can get.