Child Maintenance is financial support for dependent children over 18 years of age and is payable if a child over 18 is studying (such as at a university or an apprenticeship), has a physical or mental disability or suffers from a serious illness.
Just because a Child starts working does not mean a parent is able to cease paying Child Support.
Normally child support stops when your child turns 18. If your child's in secondary study, you can apply to extend it to the end of the school year.
See Your Children More
The single best thing for avoiding child support is to spend time with your children. How much you pay basically depends on how many nights per fortnight the children spend with you. If you have the kids 7 nights per fortnight, you're assumed to be covering 50% of their costs through direct care.
If you're an apprentice or trainee, you may be eligible for one of the following: Youth Allowance if you're 24 or younger and a full time Australian Apprentice. Austudy if you're 25 or older and a full time Australian Apprentice.
If your child is not in full-time education and working in paid employment or completing an apprenticeship, they are not considered to be your dependant. This means your benefits for them will stop. Once your child leaves education you will need to tell the Tax Credit Office and the Child Benefit Office.
It continues if they stay in approved education or training, but you must tell the Child Benefit Office. You'll be sent a letter in your child's last year at school asking you to confirm their plans.
The best course of action is to ask the court for an order modification (more below). The only guaranteed ways for support to end are if parents get back together or the child becomes legally independent based on age (usually 18) or via emancipation, marriage or joining the military.
2. What is the maximum child support in Australia? You can calculate the maximum child support amount using the combined income of both parents, up to 2.5 times the annual equivalent of the Male Total Average Weekly Earnings, as well as the Costs of Children Table.
In Australia, there is no minimum age which a child can legally refuse to see a parent following divorce or separation. Of course, once children of divorce reach the age of 18 years they can make their own decisions about where they live or which parent they want to spend time with.
How much you pay. The fixed rate for child support periods starting on or after 1 January 2023 is $1,632 per child per year. If you pay the fixed rate for more than 3 children, we'll cap the amount at 3 times the fixed rate.
So, if a child finishes their A-levels/college education at age 18, the paying parent only needs to pay child maintenance until they finish, because university education does not fall under the umbrella of secondary education.
Assuming you're on the basic rate, you'll need to pay: 12% of your gross weekly income for one child. 16% of your gross weekly income for two children. 19% of your gross weekly income for three or more children.
Do you pay less child support if you have another child? Yes. Your assessment is based on the number of dependent children that you have. If you have a child with a new partner, then that new child is considered a dependent.
Child maintenance payments usually stop when children reach the age of 16. However, if the child is in full-time approved education, it may stay in place until they reach the age of 20.
You can receive a certain amount of child support before it affects your FTB. We use a Maintenance Income Test to work this out. We reduce your FTB by 50 cents for every dollar of child support you receive over the threshold. We call this threshold the Maintenance Income Free Area.
On the basic rate, if you're paying for: one child, you'll pay 12% of your gross weekly income. two children, you'll pay 16% of your gross weekly income. three or more children, you'll pay 19% of your gross weekly income.
In Australia shared custody means that the non-residential parent pays child support to the residential parent. In the case of a 50/50 split, the higher earner usually pays child support to the lower earner to ensure the children's standard of living is the same in both locations.
50 percent of disposable income if an obligated parent has a second family. 60 percent if there is no second family.
Liability order from a court
CMS can take you to court over unpaid child maintenance. They can apply for a court order to take legal action. This is a 'liability order'. If the court grants the order, CMS can then legal action against you.
So, are apprenticeships as full time education? In short, yes. If you do an apprenticeship, you aren't breaking the law. However, don't confuse full time education with full time classroom learning – with an apprenticeship you will gain the benefits of both classroom learning, and also practical learning.
An apprenticeship is a real job where you learn, gain experience and get paid. You're an employee with a contract of employment and holiday leave. By the end of an apprenticeship, you'll have the right skills and knowledge needed for your chosen career.
From April 2022 the NMW is: Apprentice £4.81 an hour. Age 16-17 - £4.81 an hour. Age 18-20 - £6.83 an hour.
Apprentices working more than 33 hours a week are entitled to the same benefits as everyone else in the workplace. These include: sick pay entitlement. at least 20 days' paid holiday a year.
Apprenticeships funding
If an apprentice is 19 or older and past their first year they're entitled to the worker rate for their age. Employers in London may be eligible for a £3000 apprenticeship grant. These grants are available to help small-medium sized employers to recruit a new apprentice aged 16 to 24.