Administrative Assessment
An administrative assessment is the standard way child support is worked out by Services Australia. It is the assessment most parents mean when they talk about a child support assessment.
The amount is worked out under the statutory formula, and it can later be adjusted through a change of assessment if the ordinary formula result does not properly fit the family’s circumstances.
Key takeaways for parents
Australia has a national child support system that is streamlined and based on administrative assessment.
- Parents are normally assessed using a formula based on their incomes and care arrangements, with case officers having limited discretion outside exceptional or edge-case circumstances; and
- Parents who agree can use private collect and manage payments themselves, but a departure from the assessment generally requires a binding child support agreement with independent legal advice.
Informal private arrangements are not well supported where the parents disagree and will not normally override the administrative assessment.
Administrative assessment definition
An administrative assessment of child support is a child support assessment that is based on the child support formula (or a change of assessment) rather than a court order.
Definition source: Guides to Social Policy Law, Child Support Guide, Administrative assessment.
How the formula creates an assessment
An administrative assessment is the result produced by Services Australia under the child support formula. In a standard case, the system works through the parents’ child support incomes, care percentages, the number of children, and the ages of the children, then produces an annual rate of child support.
The statutory scheme uses an administrative assessment by default. If the case is not being determined by a court order or a formally accepted child support agreement, this is usually the assessment framework parents are dealing with.
A final amount is still an administrative assessment where the assessment has been varied through a change of assessment. The formula remains the base system, but Services Australia can depart from the ordinary result when the legislation allows it.
Administrative assessment vs parent agreement
An administrative assessment is made by Services Australia under the formula, or under the formula as adjusted by a change of assessment. It is the standard legal assessment under the child support scheme.
An agreement between parents is different. If parents want their own arrangement to replace or vary the ordinary formula result in a legally recognised way, they usually need a formal child support agreement accepted by Services Australia. That may be a limited agreement or a binding agreement.
Parents can also make informal private arrangements between themselves. Informal arrangements may work while both parents cooperate, but they are not the same thing as a formal child support agreement accepted under the legislation. If there is later disagreement, Services Australia can still be asked to make or administer a child support assessment under the statutory scheme.