Child Support Agency Australia

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The Child Support Agency Australia (CSA) is a Government of Australia agency established in 1988 that administers the child support arrangements where parents do not reside together in Australia

It replaced the ad hoc child maintenance system, dealt with by the courts.

It was initially part of the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), then the Department of Family and Community Services and is now in the Department of Human Services. Currently, central Child Support Agency offices exist in each state and territory, with several smaller regional centres also in existence.

The Child Support Act^[1] was passed with the Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988^[2]:

established the Child Support Agency;
implemented the first reform which saw the registration, collection and enforcement of court orders and court registered agreements for child support;

The Child Support (Assessment) Act 1989^[3] introduced the child support formula (as an administrative assessment), with the right to appeal to a court.

In 1994 a Joint Select Committee of the Australian Senate advised that the child support scheme was in need of review.

In 2005 another parliamentary review of the Child Support Scheme ^[4] recommended significant change to the Scheme. The review stated the child support scheme in Australia was 'fundamentally flawed' and in need of reform.

The Child Support Legislation Amendment (Reform of the Child Support Scheme--Initial Measures) Act 2006^[5] addresses a number of the issues identified by the parlamentary review, including some of the concerns raised by fathers and fathers' rights groups. The changes also provide for increased powers in CSA's handling and pursuit of non-compliant paying parents.

The CSA also is one of the most complained about government agency's in Australia per head of population. It ranked second only to Centrelink in the number of complaints against it in recent Commonwealth Ombudsman annual reports. In 2005-2006, the agency had 1,891 complaints and approaches (11% of all complaints - child support clients constitute only 3% of the population.)