We’ll try to contact you if all of the following apply:
- you have an Australian child support assessment
- you owe a child or spousal maintenance debt
- you’re a paying parent
- you live in another country.
We’ll ask about your income and circumstances. We do this to make sure your Australian child support assessment is correct.
What to tell us
You need to tell us:
- about your circumstances, including any other children you may be responsible for
- your income in the currency you earned it in, this may not be in Australian dollars
- what you earned in the financial year where you live, this may not be the same as the Australian financial year
- about documents you have that prove your income.
We use average exchange rates to convert your income into Australian dollars.
We’ll also talk to you about making payments, including making a payment arrangement for any amounts you may owe.
If you don’t give us the information we need we may ask the maintenance authority in your country.
How to tell us
You can tell us by:
- filling in the Income declaration - Income earned outside Australia form
- calling one of our Child Support international lines
- writing to us.
How to pay
We can no longer receive foreign currency cheques and money orders
There are changes to the Australian payment system. Some banks no longer accept foreign currency cheques and international money orders.
From 19 December 2024, we can no longer accept payments made by these methods. If you’re not already, you’ll need to use an electronic payment method. If you don’t do this, the other parent may not receive their child support and you may have an overdue amount.
The options for how you can pay child support when you live outside Australia are in the following table. Some options have a small fee.
| Payment option | What you need to know | What you need to do |
|---|---|---|
| EasyPay | Pay through Australian Government EasyPay using your credit or debit card at any time. | Read the Child Support Government EasyPay Terms and Conditions. |
| Bank transfer | Transfer money from your overseas bank to Australia. The amount we credit you may be slightly different each time due to exchange rates. | Use your 16 digit payment reference number as your description. Find this on your payer account statement. Transfer to: Reserve Bank of Australia20-22 London Circuit Canberra ACT Australia Account name: Services Australia - Child Support We pay the bank fee to convert your payment into Australian dollars. |
Post us an Australian currency cheque or Australian currency bank draft. It can take up to 25 working days for these payments to get to us. | Include:
Post to: Services AustraliaGPO Box 9815 Melbourne VIC 3001 Australia | |
| OFX | Send foreign currency to us using OFX. | OFX is an international money exchange service. You can use this to make foreign currency payments. Read more on the OFX website. |
If you don’t pay
If you don’t pay your child support, we may take action to enforce the collection of the amounts owing. Read more about overdue child support payments.
If you live in a reciprocating jurisdiction we can refer your case to the maintenance authority in your country. Once the assessment is recognised, they will then take responsibility for collecting payments from you. They’ll use the full range of enforcement actions under their law.
If we refer your case to the maintenance authority in your country
In most countries, the court system will need to recognise an Australian child support assessment. The maintenance authority or the court in your country will contact you about this process.
Once the court has recognised the assessment, the maintenance authority will notify you of how much to pay. This amount will be in the currency of the country you live.
You’ll need to make payments to the maintenance authority.
They collect all payments and send them to us.
We’ll then convert the amounts into Australian dollars and send the payments to the receiving parent. We pay the cost of converting the payments into Australian dollars.
Call one of our Child Support international lines if you would like to discuss paying child support when you live outside Australia.
If you live in New Zealand
We manage child support differently if you live in New Zealand.
Read about paying child support from New Zealand.