Child support in Australia — How the system works and what to do when it doesn't

Download your FREE Child Support Paper Trail guide: https://www.womensdivorceacademy.com/child-support-paper-trail

If you've ever felt like the child support system isn't working — you're not imagining it. In this episode, I'm joined by Crystal Paduch, founder of Child Support Consultants and a former Services Australia child support caseworker, to talk through exactly how the system works, where it falls short, and what you can do about it.

We cover:

- Your two main options when you separate: binding child support agreement vs registering with Services Australia

- Why your ex saying "let's keep it friendly" might actually be a massive red flag

- What happens when a self-employed ex declares very little (or zero) income

- How to apply for a change of assessment and what evidence to provide

- The three-stage review process: change of assessment → objection → Administrative Review Tribunal

- The $2 billion in unpaid child support on the system and what the 2026–27 budget is doing about it

- What's changing from July 2027 that will help women share evidence more safely

I also share my own experience going through an objection process — and why it wore me out even as someone who works in this space.

Links mentioned in the podcast:

Child Support Consultants (Crystal Paduch's support service for parents): https://childsupportconsultants.com.au/

Services Australia Child Support online calculator: https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/child-support-estimator

Commonwealth Ombudsman report on the child support scheme (2024–25): https://www.ombudsman.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0022/318460/Weaponising-Child-Support-when-the-system-fails-families.pdf

Administrative Review Tribunal: https://www.art.gov.au

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hello and welcome to this week's episode of Divorce with Carolyn. This episode is a little bit longer than usual, and I want to say up front, if you are navigating the child support system in Australia, it is well worth every minute. You might want to split it in half, you might want to just uh, I don't know, clear your schedule. But um, but today's episode is really worth a listen. I've been involved with the child support agency for the past 18 years or so, and still will be for quite some time, and I know how hard it can be to understand, how exhausting it is to fight for something that is wrong, and how easy it is just to give up and accept an outcome that isn't fair. Today I'm talking with Crystal Paduc from Child Support Consultants. Crystal spent years working inside the child support agency, and now Crystal helps women navigating it from the outside. She represents them at tribunals, she helps them put together objections, and she helps them gather the evidence they need to appeal against decisions that aren't fair. She is genuinely one of the most knowledgeable people I've come across in this space, and she truly cares as well. We're going to cover everything from how the child support system works in the first place to then also how it's used as a tool of control and financial abuse, what your options are when the assessment doesn't quite look right, and what the three stages of review are, including the one most women never make it to, even though they probably would do quite well to get there. Crystal also talks us through some legislative changes that will be making a big impact in the child support system in Australia from July next year. There's a lot to cover, but it could make a big difference to your child support experience. I'm Carolyn Tate, founder of Women's Divorce Academy, and your guide to turning your divorce into the best thing that ever happened to you. This is Divorce with Carolyn. Crystal, thank you for joining us today. Let's jump straight into the child support system in Australia. A woman is separated, she has kids, and she knows that she's entitled to child supporting. Where does she start? How does it work?

SPEAKER_00 2:12

That's a good question because you're absolutely right. You don't know what you don't know. If you've never had to use the system before, you've never been through this before, it can be quite overwhelming and it is quite complex. And it's important that you do know your options there as well. Um, so getting clarity is important before jumping straight into making an application for child support or deciding what to do because there are options. So you might be in a position where you could negotiate a binding child support agreement potentially with the other party, so with the father, and set your own terms of child support. If that's not possible, then you can register a case with Services Australia Child Support quite simply. You jump online, you make the application. But it's really important you're aware of what child support does after that, and also what to expect from child support about what they can do, what they can't do, what their limitations are, and what the challenges are that you may encounter when using the system itself. So there is an online calculator. So you can jump online, you can calculate what your assessment may look like if you have enough information in relation to what your income is, what the other party's income is, you know what the care arrangements are, so the percentage of care that the children between the parents, those sorts of basic information. You can punch that in, it'll give you an estimate of what to expect in relation to an administrative formula assessment from child support. That's not necessarily the issue. The issue and the challenges that people encounter are when people, in some cases, know loopholes in the system. They know how to manipulate the system and use that system as a tool of financial abuse. So they could minimize their income, reduce their income, and not declare their income correctly. That's a main issue that child support do have, the child support system has. And it could be, it could actually be even be legitimate. So someone might be a business owner and uh legally and legitimately be able to reduce their income for tax purposes, and that income information flows through to the child support agency automatically and updates in those child support assessments. So what's on paper may not be reflective of someone's actual access to financial resources or their earning capacity. So it's important that you understand that it doesn't stop there. You do have options you can explore through the agency to apply to them to conduct a review of your assessment to see if there are special circumstances that apply to your assessment, to your case, where they can establish that perhaps that what that income is on paper is not correct and they can set that income, they can make variations to the assessment basically. So there are options for you. That's just one of them. There's many of things to, I guess, consider. If your kids go to private school, if they have special needs that have additional out-of-pocket costs attached to them, there could be various things that make that assessment, that standard administrative formula assessment that is sent out to you automatically, not correct, not fair, just or equitable.

SPEAKER_01 5:06

Yeah, and I think that's one of the things I hear most from women who are frustrated with the system. Because some a lot of the time the system works just fine. But but when we do hear about the problems in the system, it's nine times out of ten, I think it's an ex who is self-employed who is, you know, claiming that they don't they have a very low income. So what does the child support system, sorry, child support agency do around that?

SPEAKER_00 5:29

Yeah, absolutely. And that's right. You that's right. It does work for someone. When it doesn't, it doesn't. It really doesn't. And in cases like that, the agency can look at other act other things. So they can look at your uh that person's access to financial resources, so they'll look into that business a little bit deeper and they'll have a look at maybe the expenses and the different things that are being claimed for the business, how much that person is drawing as an income from that business in comparison to what they potentially could or they have the ability to. They look into a variety of things and it is case by case. So the agency has a a lot of discretion in their decision making. That can be a good thing, but can also sometimes be not a good thing in some cases because you're leaving it in the hands of someone else to make a decision about the financial support for your children. So that's why I kind of like to wind back a little bit. And if you're about to go, if you're going through separation and you're already speaking with your lawyer, lawyers and your legal team about financial settlement and division of assets and those sorts of things, talk about child support. Bring that up with them and see if it is possible to enter into some kind of child support agreement, whether you set your own terms. Because if that's possible to do that, that kind of um it's sort of it's beneficial in a lot of ways. Because if both parties are a part of that decision-making process, it's more likely that he will pay because he feels like he's had a part in that sort of uh determining what child support is and where it's going and things and all those sorts of things. And it takes away that issue that a lot of paying parents have, a lot of men have, of having no control, you know, and so if you're going through that uh that process of sitting together and and setting the terms of child support and those sorts of things, that sort of takes that off the table. They're more likely to pay and all those sorts of things. And it's more tailored to your kids too. So you can you can tailor that agreement to the specific costs for your children. So rather than following the administrative assessment where it is a generic costs of children table embedded in that formula assessment, which is really way outdated anyway, you are now tailoring those costs directly to your kids' needs. So it's good for that thing, for that in that way. But in relation to child support, if that's not possible, it's not possible for everyone. It's really not. And if you have to use the system and the system is there for that purpose, it is needed, it's necessary, it's a safety net for people who need to use it. Then it is important that you know that there are options, there are options for you there. And we can assist with that because that's what we do here at the at what we do here at Child Support Consultants is we help you navigate through those processes. We make submissions on your behalf in a way that's articulated specific to your needs and what you need for your children as well.

SPEAKER_01 8:12

Yeah, and I think I was so excited to learn that you existed when we first met because uh, you know, having navigated the child support system on my own multiple times, gosh, it's just a blessing that you exist. And I know that you help a lot of women in this situation. I know for me, something that I see as well, something that happened that was told to me and also that I hear from a lot of women is ex is saying, well, let's not involve the agency, let's keep it friendly. And we always talk at Women's Divorce Academy about, you know, women feeling the pressure to keep things nice. And, you know, I uh what would you say to those women who are s who say, like, oh, I don't want to make trouble, you know, we've decided to keep it friendly between us.

SPEAKER_00 8:55

They don't want to rock the boat. That that's that's a common saying that they say all the time. But why would going to the agency not be friendly? Why would that cause and that would be the question that I would ask is that, you know, why would you think that me registering a case with the child support agency was going to cause conflict between you and I? What is it that you are concerned of? What's going on there? Because the agency, it's, it's not, it doesn't know you or me. It doesn't know us, it doesn't know who we are. Why do you think that this is going to cause a conflict between you and I? So that is really a flag, to be honest, because why? Why do you think that we're all of a sudden not going to have this healthy co-parenting relationship because I choose to register a case with Services Australia Child Support? You know, let's let's reverse engineer that and ask you that question instead. Now, with the agency, you know, it's it's sometimes necessary for someone to register a case. You sometimes have to. You actually have to because if you are a lower income earner, so you're entitled to Centrelink um support through family tax benefit, it is a requirement that you actually take maintenance action and maintenance action to meet that maintenance action test at Centrelink. And in order to receive your maximum family tax benefit for your children and your family, you need to register a case with Services Australia Child Support. So it's not an option. You actually have to do that. Um, now there is a lot of um inquiry at the moment about kind of dissecting that and trying to separate that because really it's not it's not really fair that they are connected in that way. But at the moment, that is how it is. You have to do that in order to not miss out on support from Centlink as well. So it's it's necessary in that way, but also because it formalizes something. So if you're not going to come to the table and negotiate an appropriate and suitable and sensible child support agreement for our children, then I have to do that. There has to be something formalized. We're not together anymore, we're not married anymore. We need to put things in, we need to formalize things. It's really important. So there's structure. So I know what to expect as the person who's entitled to receiving child support to be able to support our children. You know what to expect as the person liable to pay child support, so you can budget for that as well. Why would you not want that? Why would why? Tell me why. You know, it doesn't, it doesn't make any sense, you know, when people say that. So you're not doing anything wrong by registering a case with child support. You don't have to have child support collected for you, even you can register it so an assessment is made, so you have a bit of a guideline because, like you said, when we first came into this conversation, you don't know what is a fair assessment. You don't know what child support is. You've never done it before. You won't know until you you actually run the numbers and say, okay, well, that's what child support is. And then you can sort of budget around that whatever that figure does turn out to be. So yeah, I don't I don't understand how child support being involved is should cause any sort of conflict between the two of you because you can keep it private as well. So, like that, what I was about to say before I sort of went off course a little bit is that as the receiving parent, the person who is eligible to receive child support, it's your choice whether you have it collectible by the agency or have it as a private arrangement. And you can just continue doing what you're doing privately without the agency being involved in collection.

SPEAKER_01 12:14

Yeah, and as to share my own experience in that, I think I I separated from my eldest son's dad when my son was two, and my ex said, let's just keep it between us, let's have an agreement. And I was like, hang on a second, this is gonna be going on for 16 years. Circumstances will change, and what are we going to do? Just keep negotiating back and forth every time someone gets a new job, every time something happens, every time there's more expenses for our son, all those sorts of things. So I said to him, let's let them sort it out. We'll do private collections. So he paid me privately, he was always pretty good about paying eventually. And, you know, and we would just get these assessments regularly to change the amount, and and it worked really well because everybody honored their agreement. We never had to negotiate, we were always just told what the amount was, and that worked really well. For my younger two, I now have uh I have the agency collect child support for me because it's my ex is less enthusiastic about paying. And so rather than trying to have that that conversation over and over and over again, I went, you know what, I'm handing it over. I don't need the stress in my life. And it's so much easier if there's any kind of conflict, if there's any kind of friction, to just go, please, somebody else take care of it. And to your to what you just said before, I was just thinking too, I think across all aspects of divorce, I think it's really important to have your just have your ears prick up. If anybody resists having a third impartial party have a look at what's going on, anyone that resists that has, I don't know, I I think they have something uh you know, something to lose from that situation.

SPEAKER_00 13:49

Yeah. There's a concern at at very least. There's some kind of concern there. And, you know, it yeah, like I said, what what is your concern with that? It it doesn't make any sense at all. And sometimes you don't have to be in a situation where um it's it's can you know you don't you don't get along and things like that. You can be amicable and have child support collect too because it's easier, like you said. It's much easier even for the person liable to pay. Sometimes it is easier just to have child support just deducting it from their wages or they're paying it directly to the agency on a regular direct debit and then they disperse it to the mother. And then um, you know, if there's any adjustments as to, you know, when you update your incomes and all those sorts of things, child support make those adjustments for you. You're not sitting down with a calculator trying to work out what that might be. You know, it's just easier for everybody. So if it's correct, if it's a fair and correct assessment, no one should have a problem with it.

SPEAKER_01 14:38

And also a lot can happen. You know, you might be amicable now, but a lot can happen in that period of time, as we all know.

SPEAKER_00 14:45

Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. And a lot of the time it is when third party, like another party, come becomes involved, so a new partner or something like that. And um, you know, you could be quite amicable and then somebody else comes becomes involved in that family dynamic and they have their opinions about what child support should be. And they might have a new family, they might have new kids coming along as well. And um, you know, your children may not be their number one priority anymore. Unfortunately, that's and it's it's sad to say, but it can happen, you know, and um it's important that you safeguard yourself and your children now, while you're amicable. That's the best time to do it. So a lot of people think that, well, we're amicable, we don't have to do anything. That's the perfect time to do something. Why would you not do it now while you're amicable? Like, why are you waiting for something that possibly potentially could come uh come about in the future where you're no longer amicable and try to sort out a situation then? It's much easier to, you know, put things down, formalize things now, put it down pen to paper now when you're amicable, when your uh focus is on your children and your children only right now. That is the best time to do it.

SPEAKER_01 15:49

Oh, 100%, yeah. And so tell us about your time working um with the child support agency. What sort of what were the common reasons that you maybe you saw that women weren't receiving the child support they should be getting?

SPEAKER_00 16:02

Yeah, those reasons. And this is this is why, those reasons that you all know about. It's the lack of collectionability, it's the incorrect assessments, it's the lack of consistency and the information you're getting when you're calling the agency and you're getting someone different every time. There's there's a lot of issues within that system. And unfortunately, uh the child support system is kind of like um the forgotten child in a big family, you know, because it really is like this small fish in a big sea, because there are much bigger fish out there when it comes to government departments like Centrelink and and and all other departments because child support is such a small problem for them. So recently there was um the Commonwealth Ombudsman Inquiry, the investigation into the child support scheme that uh released its findings just last year, which has ultimately, I guess, uh resulted in this 2026-2027 budget that was released by the government that has allocated $1.2, $182.6 million into invested into the child support system in recognition that that system is being used. It is being used and weaponized as a tool of financial abuse, mainly against women and children. So they are actually recognizing that now. And that's something that we saw on a daily basis, both in the system and outside. So I've been running my business now for five years, and it's the same issues. But I knew that I could bridge a gap somehow by leaving the agency and starting my business here. There was a gap there that needed to be filled, a void, I suppose, where we can provide a more personalized and tailored service for those people who are going through those times of vulnerability in their lives. So I don't like to call people vulnerable because it sort of associates them with being weak. It's not a weakness. It means they are feeling vulnerable because of the overwhelm and the uncertainty that's going on around them. They are going through a serious time of vulnerability and they're not being supported. Um, you know, and so we created this space where we have a framework which is called our secure framework. So it's a secure framework, which is it is being supported, empowered, confident, understood, respected, and educated. And these are things that provide that security for parents who are going through those moments of and their times in their lives of vulnerability where we can help them, you know, get all those things that they're not getting. Because a lot of people going through separation, they're not feeling some of those things, or in some cases, any of those things, from any place that they're reaching out to. And so, in order for someone to be empowered and confident, they need that support, they need respect, they need to be understood, you know, they need education. And education really is the key because we provide that both uh to professional services like family law firms, because family lawyer is often the first point of contact for someone going through separation. So it's really important that they are equipped with the information, you know, because not everyone knows about me and my little business over here, but most people will contact a lawyer. So we are we reach out to them, we provide, we facilitate seminars and presentations to family law firms to make sure that they are equipped with the information so that they're giving that to their clients along with the other supports that they're giving them for their financial separation and you know, parenting matters and all those sorts of things too. Child support discussions need to be at the forefront as well. Um, but yeah, that's I guess to answer your question, the main issues are is that they're not being heard, they're not being understood, they feel like they don't have a voice and they're not feeling secure, you know. So that's that's really, I guess, the the bottom line is that yeah, that that's a problem with the system.

SPEAKER_01 19:53

I want to take a quick pause here because what Crystal just said is exactly why I've put together a free guide for you. It's called the Child Support Paper Trail and it walks you through exactly what you need to document from day one of separation. Things like care arrangements, expenses, your ex's financial situation, payment records, and how you can store it so you can actually have it with you when you need it. Because the women who struggle the most in this process aren't the ones with the weakest cases. They're the ones who didn't have their records. It's free. Grab it at Women's Divorce Academy. I'll pop a link in the show notes. Now let's get back to Crystal. I love that secure framework. I think that's really wonderful because um, you know, I was just telling you before we started recording, I've just recently been through an objection process with the child support agency where my ex-husband actually objected to the their finding of what he owed me. And it's onerous, it's hard work. I mean, I work in the divorce industry. I, you know, I'm university educated, I understand all of the things, but emotionally it takes its toll. And and it's just it's so much work, an objection process, but I had to collect so much evidence and I had to pull all of these things together, take all these phone calls, and it was and the objection, you know, I can't remember the entire process, but like there was an objection, then there was another objection to the objection, and I had to respond to all of these things, and um it goes on and on and on. And you know, and and eventually I knew we were getting towards the end of it, and I had supplied everything, and they just this caseworker that I had kept calling me, and eventually I just stopped taking the calls because I thought I don't even care anymore. Just make your decision, you have everything that I'm going to give you, I'm done. Like whatever you choose, I don't care. I just want it done. And I think I'm more equipped than most to deal with it. Um, you know, if if English was my second language, if I had trouble with, you know, reading or writing, if I was, you know, or if I had trouble accessing proper resources or or support, I can't imagine how hard that would be. And I imagine you see women like that all the time, right? That are struggling with that process.

SPEAKER_00 21:58

Oh, absolutely. That's not the only process a lot of the time they're going through. A lot of the time there's other things going on where where there might be, you know, court proceedings on foot as well. There might be abuse involved and there might be so many other things that are factoring into this that, you know, I guess perpetrators and of of violence, of domestic violence, are very, very good at not looking like perpetrators of domestic violence, you know. And that's something that I learned through working at child support for so much for so long and then subsequently, you know, working in this space in as a business owner in this in this space as well, is you just it is it it they're very good. They're very good at what they do, you know. And so it's really important that you know what you're trying to say, you know what's going on because you know him, you know what's happening, but no one else sees it, you know, and so um you could be dragged through these processes time and time again, you know, and so what we like to do is to equip women and I guess parents in general, but mainly women are the ones who are being impacted by this sort of thing with that ability, with that empowered ability to be able to manage it in future themselves. Because while we help them this time, we're educating them on how we're doing it. We're showing them how we're articulating our submissions to child support or maybe to the tribunal. They're with us. They're sitting next to me at a tribunal hearing, they can hear me speak. I'm giving them opportunity to speak themselves as well, and then preparing them for that hearing. And, you know, so they they can, they're learning, they're learning the system and they're understanding that next time, because there will be a next time, there's we can't control the system and what it does and what the other party's doing and how he's abusing it, how the system's allowing him to abuse it. But what we can do is equip you to be able to manage that next time. And if you can't, that's fine, come back, we'll help you again. But the idea is is you know, the the old quote is what is it? Teach, you know, give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day, teach a man to fish, he'll eat for a lifetime. We want to teach women how to fish. We want to teach you how to fish. Not literally, I can't do that. But as far as child support goes, I can do that. That's what we know. That's our thing, that's our expertise. We can teach that to you so that you are not dragged through this. You may be dragged through it again. So that he will continue to drag you through these processes, perhaps, but you'll be equipped so that these next time you are, you're not feeling vulnerable. You're not feeling like you're on the back foot, you're feeling like, well, I've got this, you know. He will send something through, you'll see it, and you'll go, yeah, I know how to respond to that, you know, because we've trained you, we've educated you and empowered you to take that on and now do it yourself.

SPEAKER_01 24:37

Oh, I love that. I took a little chills listening to that. That was wonderful.

unknown 24:40

Yeah, good.

SPEAKER_01 24:42

Yeah, I and it's I think especially important in those early days, as you said, because you know, the objection I was dealing with, I've been divorced for 10 years. So this is, you know, just this is just something that pops up occasionally. But and and I'm, you know, so so the my emotions are not high and I'm not struggling with that early separation. But that early separation, there's as you say, there's so much going on. And I want to ask you a little bit more about how the child support agency deals with abuse. And I'll tell you a little story that I'll have to check that legally I can share. That I was talking to a to a caseworker at the child support agency, and she was asking me questions about my particular case, and I was answering them, and she said to me, I'm gonna stop you there. If you mention abuse, this is gonna get a whole lot more complicated. And I was like, Okay. She was asking me not to say that because she wanted to be a problem.

SPEAKER_00 25:31

Yeah. No, because I mean, you'll notice even when you call through to the agency, um, they will say on the automated system to let them know if you do have concerns of domestic violence, because they do have a family and domestic violence model there that they have and and ways to, and different ways that they'll approach cases that are sensitive. There are teams there within the agency that they will uh allocate you to. They'll put you in touch with a social worker, you know, just to have a chat with them. And they need to know that. They can't, you know, it's it's not appropriate to to stop you right there because yeah, it might make their job a little bit harder. But I mean, because then they have to, I guess, adjust their way that they work to be a little bit more case sensitive to your circumstances. So, yeah, it may make their workload a little bit harder on their end, but that's certainly not something they should be stopping you from doing. When you go through those objection processes, so objections are change of assessment processes. So when you make an application to depart from the administrative assessment of child support, it's called a change of assessment in special circumstances. Probably a lot of your viewers understand what that is or know something about that. It is an open exchange of information process. So anything you put forward in those applications will be exchanged with the other party. So it is important that you're aware of that. You will be advised that by the decision maker. But a good thing is uh from this budget that has just been released, from July 2027, they're gonna change that. So that's a really good thing. So a lot of people, I find parents, they don't really mind disclosing information and giving as much information as they need to the agency for them to make a decision, an appropriate and correct decision, but they're not so much comfortable with that information being exchanged with the other party. So they hold back. And as though, as a result of holding back on information, sometimes the right decision isn't made, or potentially it can't be made because they don't have enough information to make it, I suppose, in their defense somewhat. And so this is a really good thing because it means you can provide that information and it won't necessarily be exchanged with the other party. The agency will review it, but it doesn't need to be exchanged with the other party because they have identified as part of that ombudsman inquiry that this is a process that is being used to obtain information from the other party. So there are people putting it forward applications that they know aren't even going to be successful, they're not, they're not right. And it's just because they want to engage the other party, continuously engage that other party through these processes and obtain information from them.

SPEAKER_01 28:01

Yeah, that's interesting because that actually happened to me in the objection. I um I redacted some information from my bank statements. And when the decision was made, and the reason I did it was because I didn't really want my ex-husband to see a name on my bank statement that I thought then he may contact and harass or whatever. Um and so I redacted the name on the bank statement, and when they made the decision, they said, Oh, we didn't have the full information, so you know that was difficult. And so I'm really glad to hear that's changing from a personal point of view.

SPEAKER_00 28:31

And like and again, that that's the other part of um the discretionary abilities within the agency and and what I was speaking about for sometimes it's a really good thing, but sometimes it's not, because you know, that sort of having that level of discretion to say, Well, I can't make a decision because you redacted a name off your bank statement, like that's crazy, you know. So, but they can legally and legislatively, they haven't really done anything wrong. They're following the process and they do have the ability to make that discretionary call, and and that's what they did. And so, but it can be um a little bit frustrating for people. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:02

Yeah. And so tell me about, so tell tell us about the the process. Like, so if a woman has gone, has applied for child support, she's got a decision and she's unhappy with it, she knows that there's something not quite right, whether it yeah, and especially I think in those areas where maybe there's abuse or there's, you know, somebody gaming the system in some way. Can you just talk us through from start to finish how that process works? What are the avenues open to her?

SPEAKER_00 29:27

Okay. So you initially get your assessment, it's not right. It looks like dad's income is zero, let's just say he's income zero. You know that's not correct. He owns a business, it's a multimillion dollar business. That's not right. It doesn't have to be a multi-million dollar business. It could just be a business that he draw, he should be, he could have the ability to draw, you know, $100,000, $200,000 from he's not doing it, he's declaring a zero income. You make an application, what it's called, uh formally what it's called is a departure application. It's a departure from the administrative assessment of child support, most commonly known as a change of assessment in special circumstances. Now, change of assessment in special circumstances, there is 10 reasons that someone can apply to the agency for uh a change in a change of assessment. So reason eight is in relation to incomes. There's reason eight A and reason eight B. So if we're specifically just looking at someone whose income is not reported correctly, you that's where you'd be applying for. You'd be ticking that box in the form under reason eight A and 8B. If you're not sure which one, just tick both. Um, but I'll explain the difference between the two. You're putting that application into child support, and you should provide as much information as you can in relation to why you believe that assessment is not correct, why it's not fair, just, and equitable. Okay, so you believe them given them information about, you know, he owns a business, he's the ABN for that business, he's been working there for 20 years, um, he has qualifications, uh, skills, and all that sort of thing. All as much as information as you possibly can that you know about him so that they can do their job. Okay, so put that forward. Reason eight A is in relation to someone's access to financial resources. So that's usually the box you would tick if someone's self-employed and not declaring a correct income because they have an access to financial resources that they're not drawing upon in uh in their income that they're declaring to the ATO and therefore the assessment's not correct. The capacity part, reason eight B, is if someone really isn't working, for example, or they're not working at their full capacity. So they have um adjusted their working circumstances in a, I guess, a deliberate attempt to impact the child support assessment. There's no health reasons or caring responsibility reasons as to why that person has done that. And you believe they have capacity to earn more than what is in the assessment. That's where you'd be going. So child support, then do that review. That's assigned to a decision maker there. They conduct that review, that's exchanged for the other party, has opportunity to respond, you have opportunity to respond to his response, eventually child support make a decision. Okay, you're not happy with the outcome. You think that's not correct. That's not correct at all. They've decided to leave his income at zero because they believe he has no income at all. That does happen. I mean, it is it is wild, really, because there's no, we have, and we have had a case like that very recently. We took it to tribunal, it was overturned, it was set aside, it was adjusted, he was made to they did very the assessment to make him pay, I think it was around $25,000 a year, from zero to $25,000 a year. But they that lady went through those two processes first before they came to, and that was the change of assessment process and the objection process. So after change of assessment process, you don't agree, the zero income's not right, you object to that decision. It's then allocated to a decision maker, a different area within child support still, where they will conduct another review of that decision. They may then still determine, it's a similar process. It's exchange with the party, you have an opportunity to respond and all the rest of it. So they make a decision, you're still not happy. You can then go to the administrative review tribunal. So that's the ART. So that's the third step in this process. They're separate to child support. These aren't child support decision makers anymore once you get there. So that goes through a proper hearing process where they will do a full merits review, so a new review of that decision that was made. So they're now standing in place of the child support registrar. They're not there to determine whether that that decision maker did the right thing or the wrong thing. They're just doing a whole new review of this case from start to finish. Okay. So that's where, yeah, that that's sort of the, I guess, in a nutshell where the process is. And once that tribunal, that member at the tribunal makes a decision there, that's sent to child support and that overrides the decision that was made by the agency initially.

SPEAKER_01 33:33

And can people at that stage, when it gets to tribunal, can you take a lawyer? I know that, I mean, do you do you offer that service that you would appear at the tribunal as well? Or or do uh can they take a lawyer? What's the situation there? Because it sounds very overwhelming.

SPEAKER_00 33:46

Yeah, we do. So that that's pretty much what I do in the area that I work in within within my businesses, I do most of the tribunal hearings. So, yes, you can nominate a representative to make submissions on your behalf. So you still need to turn up, so you still need to come to each of those stages, and you are still needing to speak to your evidence. So you will still need to speak to your evidence during the hearing, but your representative can make verbal submissions and written submissions on your behalf. So it is definitely a good thing to have that support through that process because it can be quite overwhelming. It is a lot for people to go to a hearing process, particularly because unlike child support, you don't hear the other party, they're not present during those processes because child support is making their own determination after speaking to both of you separately. Through those at the process at the tribunal, you will hear them at very least if you're on the phone, you'll hear them. You may see them if you're both in person, and you will see them if you're on a video conference. So that in itself can be very overwhelming for someone, particularly if they have experienced some form of abuse from that party.

SPEAKER_01 34:49

And to that point about abuse, and I know we mentioned touched on it briefly before, that you said, you know, if you if you mention that there is abuse during the child support assessment system uh process, that it can change the way that it's dealt with within um the child support agency. How what what changes?

SPEAKER_00 35:06

Well, that's the problem with the agency, really. It's not that a lot changes, it just means that they need to be cautious in relation to the information they're exchanging with the other party. They will give you opportunity to withdraw your application because if they feel that it might be a risk for you, they can they can tell you that, you know, um you have the opportunity to withdraw your application. And like that, that's the problem with the system is their this their answer to domestic violence up until recently has always been either get an exemption from child support and just don't get have a child support uh assessment in place. An exemption means you make an application to child support, that initial application to child support for an assessment, and they go through a pre-registration interview with you, they identify there's domestic violence concerns, and they'll ask you to speak with a social worker. The social worker will determine if you should have an exemption applied to you. So what that means is they scrap the maintenance action test we spoke about earlier, where it won't impact your family tax benefit payments if you don't register a case with child support. But that's it, you don't get child support, you just don't register a case. So that's what an exemption is. Okay, so that's their answer for that. Through a change of assessment, okay. Through a change of assessment process, you can withdraw your application because I have to exchange this with the other party. All the information you put forward here, I need to exchange all of this with the other party for procedural fairness. He needs to be aware of all of this. If you're not happy with that, withdraw it all. We'll just withdraw your application altogether or withdraw it and resubmit it with redactions and less information, all that sort of stuff. But just be aware that if you do that, then we may not be able to make uh the a right correct decision because we don't have all the information to do that. Like you said about redacting a name off a bank statement. If you're going to submit something with various redactions, then child support very well might draw adverse inferences against you because they don't have, or they may say they don't have sufficient information to process a proper decision. So there's there's not there's not a there's not a lot of framework there in relation to I guess case management. It's just more about having to um withdraw, resubmit, redact, you know, you know, all those sorts of things when it comes to change of assessment processes at the moment, until this new um system comes into play where you don't have to exchange information right now, up until July next year, that's what you're dealing with. Okay. That's yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:25

And so I guess that gives us something to hold on for.

unknown 37:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:28

But in the meantime, I imagine that that's you know a situation where you can be very helpful.

SPEAKER_00 37:33

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Because we make sure that you're still submitting a solid application, you know. So you're still submitting a solid application that has enough information for that decision maker to make a proper determination, but not prov over-providing, not over-sharing information. There's one more thing though, with the agency, they actually do have what's called the capacity, capacity to pay team, the CTP team there. So what they can do, they can actually do a registrar-initiated change of assessment. So what that means is it's the same process, but instead of you making the application, they can make the application on your behalf. So it's a registrar-initiated change of assessment application. They can only do it under reason eight. They can't do it under any of the other nine reasons under change of assessment. But that is something to consider. If there is a genuine concern for domestic violence, you can speak to them about potentially doing a registrar-initiated change of assessment process application.

SPEAKER_01 38:29

So, what power does the child support agency have to track down somebody when it comes to like, let's say they say they're not working or they refuse to share where they're working or anything like that? Does the child support agency work with, say, the tax department to find out where somebody works? How does that work?

SPEAKER_00 38:46

They they do have access, they have internal access to ATO systems. So they can, they can use the ATO systems because most employers use single-touch payroll and those sorts of things now. So you can get that instant information from the tax office. So they can find it. If someone's not going to disclose it, they can they do have ways to find that information. So they can send, they do have the power, the legislative power, to send off information gathering notices to third parties. So that could be to a potential employer, to a bank, uh to an accountant, uh, maybe to a lawyer even. But they need to have reason to. So they're not allowed to fish for information. So it's important that you, as the person who may have the debt, so the person who's eligible to receive the payment, you've got a massive debt on there. If you hear something or you know something about that party, that debtor, then let Child Support know because they can follow up and they will, they should be following up on the information that you provide to them because they can use their systems to do basic searches, to do an ATO search to see where someone might be working. They can send off those notices, but they have to have reason to send off notices. They can't just send off a notice to every single bank in Australia. They need to have a reason to send off that notice. So if you call them and say, I know that he previously banked with Commonwealth Bank, they can then issue a notice to the Commonwealth Bank because they have reason to without being seen as fishing. Okay, so that sort of thing. If you've if you are aware of any upcoming travel arrangements, or if you're if he, the other party travels regularly for business, or you know that he always goes on this annual holiday, whatever it might be, let child support know because they can put a departure prohibition order on him, a DPO to prevent him from leaving the country until he pays his debt. Um there's a there's plenty of things they can do. They can't they do even they even have a litigation department there where they can take a person to court if the debt is significant enough and all the other avenues for collection have been exhausted and unsuccessful. They can do that. So it's important to just keep on top of it because, you know, um you can't rely on them. It's it's it's a big system. There's a lot of people at the moment, there's what is it, two billion dollars worth of debt on their system right now. Two billion dollars. That's what it is right now. Um and that really hasn't changed, it's always been around that for like as long as I can remember. Like, this isn't new. You know, it's about two billion dollars. They don't know how to collect it because they sometimes don't have the ability to collect. So while they do have these resources available to them, there are loopholes in the system where people are aware of that child support don't have the capabilities, the legislative ability to access funds from them. And that's the problem the system has at the moment that apparently this new um inquiry and the new budget is is starting to address. At least it's recognition. It is recognition that there isn't there is an issue in the system. There are loopholes in their system. They're finally recognizing that. And this uh forgotten child is no longer forgotten. That they know now that there is a problem here in this system and they are slowly recognizing it and implementing small changes of reform to this system that is slightly broken in that way.

SPEAKER_01 41:52

Do you have faith that those changes are going to make a big difference to women like like us?

SPEAKER_00 41:58

I think eventually, I think eventually it will. You know, I I do. I think the changes, they're they're really small changes at the moment. They're kind of building on what's already there, you know, so they're kind of like making changes to so they've got, you know, funding into prosecution and and utilizing the ATO resources. So they are using that connection with the ATO, apparently, they're going to, in more in a more effective, effective, and meaningful way. So that prosecution, hopefully, is something that will be a deterrent from people attempting to manipulate or be fraudulent with the system or use the system in an abusive way. And there's other things they're doing there in relation to, you know, DPOs and and all those sorts of things and and employee withholding deductions through employers and those sorts of things. These are things that are already in place, though. You know, so they're really small changes, but it is a small step in the right direction. But like I said, it's a $2 billion problem that they've thrown $182 million at. $182 million sounds like a lot of money, but a $2 billion problem is enough? Yeah. No, it's certainly not. It's it's not just yet, but I'm hoping it's a stepping stone rather than just like, oh, there you go, off you go, we're done. I really do, well, I hope that this is just a small stepping stone in the right direction.

SPEAKER_01 43:11

Yeah, and you know, obviously those numbers are huge, but excuse me, to the to a woman at home who's just owed even, you know, a couple of grand, you know, that that can be a lot of money. It's it's it's really hard to be patient while all that's happening. So can you talk us through, you know, maybe de-de-identify somebody who's worked with you and tell us like how the process has worked and how you've supported them just so that people can understand what you do?

SPEAKER_00 43:33

Yeah. We we had a mother contact us, um, this was last year. I mean, we have people contacting us every day for this sort of similar situation, but beginning to end, this was a good outcome for her for a woman who had almost given up hope because she'd gone through that change of assessment and objection process with child support that we spoke about earlier to challenge the income that was used in her assessment. The father is self employed. She knows he has a much higher access to financial resources. Than what he's declaring of zero. It was actually zero. So that is how how arrogant, arrogant, I suppose, and um cocky people. Just at least go, I don't know, a little bit. Yeah. I always think that too. I was like, come on, like, you know, uh, surely zero income would flag something in the agency. It didn't. So she went through that process, uh, and that quite, you know, like you said, it's a time-consuming, exhausting, overwhelming process where she had to share a lot of information through that process, only to get to the end of it and say, we didn't have enough information here. We don't have enough information to change his income. We're leaving it at zero, right? She has her uh one son who was at the time last year two. I think he might be three now. And she was a single mum, had 100% care, the father, nothing to do with alienation or anything like that. Um, the father did not want to be a part of his life. And so she bears the full cost. So not just the financial cost, but you know what it's like. As a parent, as a mum, that that full uh emotional load on top of everything else. And he's declaring zero income. She said herself, look, if he just declared 50 grand, I know he earns like 200 grand, I'd be happy with that. At least it's something, you know, but the but just the height of that to say zero and child support to pretty much throw their hands in the air and say, sure, he has zero income. You know, no one can have zero income unless you're living on the street. You don't have zero income. You have support from centrelink or something. You've got someone at home supporting you. You have something, you know. So for them just to disregard her in that way was just really disappointing and frustrating for her and really, what's the word? Not kind of condescending, but just really belittling, you know, to say, well, you know, yeah, he has zero income. Off you go. Address even like his capacity to earn at that point. No, no, she brought that up. It was brought up, and they and they they went through the review process, got to the end of it, and said, no, there's no capacity, there's no income, there's nothing. We don't have enough information here to find anything or to term determine anything otherwise. So she went through the objection process and the same thing happened again, um, which I thought was unbelievable, really, because usually, you know, with the discretion making, you know, people get things wrong, everyone's human. But you think that next stage, the next person, the next decision maker would have picked that up. They didn't. And the same thing happened again. They affirmed the original decision maker's decision to say zero income. Um that's when she contacted us and she sort of told us our story and asked if it was worthwhile going to the tribunal to challenge this because she just doesn't have the energy for it. She doesn't want to go through all this again. It's been it's been a whole year of this. So that that decision-making process, going through that and then this, it's been a whole year. It's been 12 months now, and she's still got nothing from it, even though she's gone through this whole process. He's provided nothing, he hasn't participated in any of the processes, she's done everything, and she's got nowhere, you know. And so we took it to tribunal. I represented her at tribunal, and it was that decision was set aside. So ultimately, the the end result was that decision was set aside. We were successful in persuading that tribunal member that this is not correct. We put forward those submissions to show his capacity, his past, his history, you know, his access to financial resources through property. Uh, so rental income. He also owned a business where he's drawing in income. He had family members who were working within the business, so the income was sort of being allocated to different people with his within his family, you know. And so we put all this together, presented that to the tribunal, and that was successful. And that was successful in the way that the assessment was increased from zero, so no, in no child support annually to $25,000, around $25,000 per year annually. And she was just, you know, stoked by that. The issue you've got from that though is then that goes back to child support. Child support implement the child that decision, and then they've got to collect it. So now you're back in the issue now of having collection issues because now he's avoiding payment of child support. You know, he's been found out that his assessment's wrong and that he did, he did reduce his income and that wasn't correct or fair or just and equitable and all those things. But now child support have this issue where they are trying to collect it and they can't find it anywhere because he's put it in places that they don't have the legislative ability to collect it from. You know, so there's this problem and then there's this problem. And unless they address both of them, then you know, it's it's kind of it's it's this, it's the problem, it's a constant cycle of issues. You have this high of going, yes, I finally got recognition and that was good. So she got that recognition that she was right. He her his income was higher. I knew that, and I was right. But then that goes back to child support, and they're saying, okay, yep, you were right, but we can't collect it because we can't find any money anywhere. There's nothing in bank accounts, we can't, you know, we don't have the ability to collect it from him. So now she's back in this battle again with child support, trying to get them to collect it. So, you know, success story on one hand, but it highlights the a big issue with the system on the other hand. But what I do say is to, is to, if you know, if you know in your gut something's not right, then push it, pursue it, because it is important that it is, it is highlighted, it's brought to the agency's attention that this is what's going on in the system. And they won't know unless people continue to fight that and put their case forward and show that this is not right. It's just not right.

SPEAKER_01 49:09

And gosh, I mean, thank goodness for people like you, because I can, you know, as you're telling that story, I I could identify like seven different points where I would have just gone, I give up. It's too hard. You know, even even calling the child support agency and being on hold for an hour while you're waiting for someone to answer your phone is like every single point through that is a place where so many women just give up. And so it's so wonderful to that you provide this service where a you know the system, B, you know, you know, how to progress things, and also you provide that beautiful buffer where you know, for you it's not an emotional issue, it's just you know what's right and what's wrong and you know how to work it. I will share uh in the show notes how people can get in touch with you. I think what you do is so wonderful for women. Thank you for doing what you do. If you were talking to women who are listening right now and going, I find this so overwhelming, this is really hard. What do you want them to know about their rights and about how they can work with the child support agency to get the best outcomes?

SPEAKER_00 50:09

Know that you have rights. That's the first thing is is knowing that you do have rights and you do have options and just knowing which option is the best pathway for you is really important. So you you reach out and give us a call. We do have a free phone call, like that you can book in at a time that suits you. We can have a chat about your situation and determine whether we would be appropriate for you to engage to represent you or support you through whatever issue that you're having and give you some guidance. You might just need some clarity. You might just need to, you know, have a catch-up with us via Zoom or something and have a chat about your disc your circumstances where we can just provide some practical steps for you to take to challenge something through the agency. So it really is about having that initial call and just knowing what your rights are because you do have them. You do have rights. Crystal, thank you for joining us today. You're most welcome.

SPEAKER_01 50:57

Thank you. If doing this alone feels heavy, Women's Divorce Academy offers clear guidance, practical tools, and a supportive community for the legal, financial, and emotional realities of divorce. Whether you're considering separation in the middle of it, or rebuilding afterwards, there's something here for you. Find us at Women's DivorceAcademy.com.