The Guides to Social Policy Law is a collection of publications designed to assist decision makers administering social policy law. The information contained in this publication is intended only as a guide to relevant legislation/policy. The information is accurate as at the date listed at the bottom of the page, but may be subject to change. To discuss individual circumstances please contact Services Australia.

7.2 Collection types – private collect & agency collect

Introduction

The Registrar is responsible for assessing how much child support (1.1.C.60) is payable for an assessment, however, the payee (1.1.P.30) can choose how their child support is paid – either by private collect (1.1.P.110) or by agency collect (1.1.A.50).

Collection type – responsibility for collecting child support

In an 'agency collect' arrangement, the Registrar assesses and collects any amount payable, and disburses it to the payee when the payment is received.

In a 'private collect' arrangement, the Registrar assesses how much child support should be paid and the parents (1.1.P.10) then exchange the payments directly between themselves. Parents can exchange the payments in any way they agree, such as by cash or direct bank transfer. Private collection encourages parents to determine their own arrangements and enforce collection of their own liabilities. Any disputes about private child support debts (1.1.C.90) must be resolved through mediation or in court, in the same way as other types of privately enforceable debts.

Changing collection type

The payee can ask the Registrar to change the collection type (that is, they can move from private collect to agency collect (7.4.1.10) or from agency collect to private collect (7.3.1.10).

If a payee opts in to agency collect, they can ask the Registrar to collect arrears (1.1.A.100) that have accrued during the private collect period. More information is available at 7.3.2.

Collection type & implications for FTB

It is important for payees to understand the rules that apply to each collection type, and any flow-on impacts to FTB to make sure the decision they make around collection is right for their circumstances.

Topic 1.4.2 provides information on how the child support collection type affects how child support is applied to the FTB Part A MIT.

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