Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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CHILD SUPPORT (ASSESSMENT) REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT) 1997 NO. 170

Statutory Rules 1997 No. 170

Issued by the Authority of the Assistant Treasurer

Child Support (Assessment) Act 1989

Child Support (Assessment) Regulations (Amendment)

Section 164 of the Child Support (Assessment) Act 1989 (the Act) provides that the Governor-General may make Regulations for the purposes of the Act.

The Act provides for the administrative assessment of child support by the Child Support Registrar according to a formula set out in the Act, as well as for acceptance by the Registrar of consent agreements between parties as child support agreements.

Regulation 6 - (Inflation factor)

In determining a person's child support income amount, section 55 of the Act provides for a person's taxable income to be multiplied by an inflation factor applicable to the particular child support year, as set out in the Regulations.

The purpose of the proposed Regulation is to prescribe the inflation factor to be applied to a person's taxable income in relation to the 1997/98 child support year. The amending Regulation will include a figure of 1.045 as the inflation factor for the child support year ending on 30 June 1998. The inflation factor is based on the estimate of a 4.5 per cent increase in average earnings (National Accounts basis excluding superannuation and redundancies) for the 1996/97 financial year.

The Regulation will commence on 1 July 1997.

Regulation 9 - (Orders that may be made by a court)

Regulation 9 provides for the Registrar or a court to make certain kinds of determinations or orders with respect to the application of the child support formula to the liable parent and the custodian. The Family Law Reform Act 1995 substituted the term "carer" for "custodian" throughout the Child Support (Assessment) Act 1989.

The purpose of the amendment is to ensure that terminology used in Regulation 9 is consistent with that of the Child Support (Assessment) Act 1989 by substituting the term "carer" for "custodian" in the Regulation.

The Regulation will commence on gazettal.