Commonwealth Numbered Acts

CHILD SUPPORT (ASSESSMENT) ACT 1989 No. 124 of 1989 - SECT 5

5. In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears:

"adjusted income amount", in relation to a liable parent, has the meaning
given by subsection 36 (2);

"administrative assessment" means assessment under Part 5;

"annual rate" includes an annual rate of nil;

"child eligible for administrative assessment" means a child in relation to
whom an application may, under section 24, be made to the Registrar for
administrative assessment of child support;

"child support" means financial support under this Act, including financial
support under this Act by way of lump sum payment or by way of transfer or
settlement of property;

"child support agreement" has the meaning given by section 81;

"child support income amount" has the meaning given by:

   (a)  in the case of a liable parent- section 38 and Division 3 of Part 5;
        and

   (b)  in the case of a custodian entitled to child support- section 45 and
        Division 3 of Part 5;

"child support percentage" has the meaning given by section 37 (as modified in
relation to certain cases by paragraphs 48 (e) and 54 (b) and (c));

"child support terminating event" has the meaning given by section 12;

"child support year" means:

   (a)  the period starting on the commencing day and ending on the next 30
        June; or

   (b)  a subsequent financial year;

"commencing day" means the day on which this Act commences;

"court exercising jurisdiction under this Act" does not include a court
exercising jurisdiction in proceedings under paragraph 79 (a);

"court having jurisdiction under this Act" does not include a court that has
jurisdiction under this Act only in relation to the recovery of amounts of
child support;

"custodian entitled to child support" has the meaning given by section 31 or,
in relation to a case in which the liability to pay the child support
concerned arose because of the acceptance by the Registrar of a child support
agreement, section 93;

"disregarded income amount", in relation to a custodian entitled to child
support, has the meaning given by section 46;

"eligible child" has the meaning given by Part 3 (Children who may be covered
by Act);

"eligible custodian", in relation to a child, means:

   (a)  a person who is the sole or principal provider of ongoing daily care
        for the child; or

   (b)  a person who shares ongoing daily care of the child substantially
        equally with another person;

"exempted income amount", in relation to a liable parent, has the meaning
given by section 39;

" Family Law Act 1975" includes the regulations and Rules of Court made under
that Act;

"income tested pension, allowance or benefit" has the same meaning as in the
Family Law Act 1975;

"last relevant year of income", in relation to a person and a child support
year, means the year of income immediately before the year of income that
ended most recently before the start of the child support year;
Examples of operation of definition of last relevant year of income
------------------------------------------------------------------------ Child
support year      Most recently ended         Last relevant year

                              year of income                of income
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1989-90                  1988-89                     1987-88

         1990-91                  1989-90                     1988-89

         1991-92                  1990-91                     1989-90

         1992-93                  1991-92                     1990-91
------------------------------------------------------------------------

"liable parent" has the meaning given by section 31 or, in relation to a case
in which the liability to pay the child support concerned arose because of the
acceptance by the Registrar of a child support agreement, section 93;

"married person" means:

   (a)  a person who is legally married to another person and is not living
        separately and apart from the other person on a permanent basis; or

   (b)  a person who is living with another person of the opposite sex as the
        spouse of the other person on a genuine domestic basis although not
        legally married to the other person;

"parent" means:

   (a)  when used in relation to a child who has been adopted-an adoptive
        parent of the child; and

   (b)  when used in relation to a child born because of the carrying out of
        an artificial conception procedure-a person who is a parent of the
        child under section 60B of the Family Law Act 1975;

"Registrar" means the Child Support Registrar;

"relevant AWE amount", in relation to a child support year, means the estimate
of the full-time adult average weekly total earnings for persons in Australia
for the latest period for which such an estimate was published by the
Australian Statistician before 1 January immediately before the child
support year;
Example: For the child support year 1989-90, the latest period for which such
an estimate was published by the Australian Statistician before 1
January 1989 was the pay week ending on or before 19 August 1988. The
estimate for that period was $502.40. The relevant AWE amount for the
child support year 1989-90 is, therefore, $502.40.

"relevant dependent child", in relation to a liable parent, means a child of
whom the liable parent is both a parent and an eligible custodian but is not a
liable parent, being a child who:

   (a)  is under 18 years of age; and

   (b)  is an unmarried person; and

   (c)  is not a shared custody child;

"relevant married rate of Social Security pension", in relation to a child
support year, means the maximum rate at which pension under Part IV of the
Social Security Act 1947 was payable on 1 January immediately before the child
support year to a married person:

   (a)  whose spouse within the meaning of that Act was in receipt of a
        prescribed pension within the meaning of that Act; and

   (b)  who did not have a dependent child within the meaning of that Act; and
        (c) who was not permanently blind within the meaning of that Act; and

   (d)  to whom section 36 of that Act did not apply;
Example: The maximum rate of that pension on 1 January 1989 was
$5,384.60 per annum. The relevant married rate of Social Security
pension for the 1989-90 child support year is, therefore, $5,384.60 per
annum.

"relevant single rate of Social Security pension", in relation to a child
support year, means the maximum rate at which pension under Part IV of the
Social Security Act 1947 was payable on 1 January immediately before the child
support year to an unmarried person:

   (a)  who did not have a dependent child within the meaning of that Act; and
        (b) who was not permanently blind within the meaning of that Act; and

   (c)  to whom section 36 of that Act did not apply;
Example: The maximum rate of that pension on 1 January 1989 was $6,461
per annum. The relevant single rate of Social Security pension for the
1989-90 child support year is, therefore, $6,461 per annum.

"resident of Australia" has the meaning given by section 10;

"Rules of Court" means Rules of Court made under the Family Law Act 1975;

"separated" has the meaning given by section 9;

"shared custody child" means a child of whom each of the parents is an
eligible custodian because he or she shares ongoing daily care of the child
substantially equally with the other parent;

"this Act" includes the regulations;

"unmarried person" means a person who is not a married person (as defined in
this section);

"yearly equivalent of the relevant AWE amount", in relation to a child
support year, means 52 times the relevant AWE amount in relation to the child
support year;

"year of income", in relation to a person, has the same meaning as in the
Income Tax Assessment Act 1936.