Child Care Expenses & Child Support

Can my out-of-pocket childcare expenses be factored into my child support assessment in order to increase what my ex needs to pay me in child support?

Generally, child support payments are supposed to cover a child/children’s day to day living expenses such as food, housing, clothing and extra-curricular activities however, there are certain circumstances where a paying parent or a receiving parent can make an Application to Change Assessment – Special Circumstances with the Child Support Agency (CSA) to either increase or decrease the child support assessment.

One of those circumstances is Reason 6 that is “The costs of raising the child are significantly affected by the parent or non-parent carer's child care costs, and the child is under 12 years of age”. This means that if you are a parent or non-parent carer (such as a grandparent) incurring significant fees for childcare, you can make an application with the CSA to increase the child support assessment provided that you meet the following criteria:-

1. You must have a current child support assessment in place;
2. The child or children must be under 12;
3. The costs must be either:-
   • more than 5% of your adjusted taxable income (which is located on your child support assessment) if you are a parent; or
   • at least 25% of the costs of the child if you’re a non-parent carer.
4. You can only claim the actual costs incurred by you after any applicable Child Care Subsidy rebates, discounts and concessions. You must provide evidence of the out-of-pocket costs incurred by you for example, receipts for childcare payments and statements of rebates, benefits and government support.

What happens after my application to the CSA is submitted?

Once you have submitted your Application with the CSA, they will provide your Application and supporting documents to the other parent. The other parent usually then has 28 days to provide a response to the CSA.

Even if all of the above conditions are met, the Registrar of the CSA still has to decide:-

• Whether or not the costs incurred are reasonable and necessary, for example:-
  • The parent or non-parent carer requires childcare in order to work;
  • The parent or non-parent carer requires childcare in order to look for work, study or undertake training and further education;
  • The parent or non-parent carer requires childcare for respite purposes.
• Whether the costs claimed are reasonable costs. Examples of reasonable childcare costs include:-
  • daycare centre costs (including family daycare and Kindy where the Kindy is part of a long daycare centre);
  • before school and after school care, and vacation care costs, for children in primary school (up to the age of 12); and
  • in some cases, payments to a nanny/au pair or a child’s grandparent may be considered reasonable provided that there is no other childcare available for a lower cost.

The Registrar of the CSA will consider all of the evidence before making their decision. They may contact either party if further information is required. The Registrar will then notify the parties in writing of that decision and, if applicable, a new child support assessment will be issued. If either parent is not happy with the decision, then they can object to the decision within certain time limits and ask for the CSA to review the decision. 

What if I am the parent paying child support?

In some circumstances, a parent paying child support, and also paying childcare fees to a third-party childcare provider on top of child support payments to the other parent, can make their own application to the CSA to have their childcare payments credited as a “prescribed non-agency payment”. The CSA can credit up to 30% of the child support assessment as a prescribed non-agency payment but only when the following conditions are met:-

1. The paying parent is already paying a minimum of 70% of their child support payments to the other parent on time; and
2. The paying parent has less than 14% of the child/children.

If you are considering making an application to change your current child support assessment due to your high costs of childcare, or you are the paying parent and you are paying your child/children’s childcare fees on top of your child support assessment amount, then we strongly recommend that you obtain legal advice to discuss your options and to review your application before lodging your application with the CSA.

Contact our office to make an appointment with one of our solicitors to discuss your circumstances and obtain advice on your situation on (07) 4963 2000 or through our online contact form below.