Child Support Agency Australia

The Child Support Agency Australia (CSA) is a Government of Australia agency established in 1988 to administer the assessment and collection of child support [ [http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/num_act/csa1988n31988197/ Child Support Act 1988 No. 3 of 1988] ] [ [http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/disp.pl/au/legis/cth/consol_act/csaca1988427 Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988] ] , to replace the previous ad hoc Australian child maintenance system dealt with by the Courts.

The CSA has around 1.5 million customers [CSA website, http://www.csa.gov.au/agency/facts] and is regarded internationally as a very cost-effective transferor of child support maintenance [Child Support Schemes: Australia and Comparisons 2006, http://www.csa.gov.au/publications/pdf/1248.pdf] .

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. There are Child Support Agency offices in each state and territory.

The child support formula is contained in the Child Support (Assessment) Act 1989 [ [http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/disp.pl/au/legis/cth/num_act/csa1989n1241989321 Child Support (Assessment) Act 1989 No. 124 of 1989] ] , with a 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 ["In the Best Interests of Children - Reforming the Child Support Scheme" (Ministerial Taskforce), released on 14 June 2005] ] 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 [ [http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/disp.pl/au/legis/cth/num_act/cslaotcssma2006532006863 Child Support Legislation Amendment (Reform of the Child Support Scheme--Initial Measures) Act 2006 (No. 53, 2006)] ] addresses a number of the issues identified by the parliamentary 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. Although the CSA has become very efficient at collecting the maximum amount from the absent parent, their hard work stops there and they have no regard for how this money is spent.

The CSA ranked second to Centrelink in the number of complaints against it in the most recent Commonwealth Ombudsman annual report. In 2006-2007, 1,790 complaints (or 5% of the total number of complaints made to the Commonwealth Ombudsman) were about the CSA [Commonwealth Ombudsman Annual Report 2006-07, http://www.ombudsman.gov.au/publications_information/annual_reports/ar2006-07/download/PDF/appx4_table_a1.pdf] .

ee also

*Child support
*Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs
*Department of Human Services
*Australian family law
*Family Court of Australia
*Men's Rights

References

External links

* [http://www.csa.gov.au Child Support Agency Australia]
* [http://www.facs.gov.au/internet/facsinternet.nsf/family/childsupport.htm Child Support resources] at Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs
* [http://www.aph.gov.au/library/intguide/law/famlaw.htm Parliament of Australia Parliamentary Library Family law resources]