Changing your assessment
If you believe your child support assessment is unfair, in special circumstances you may be able to request a change.
There are 10 reasons why we might change your assessment.
Objecting to a decision
If you disagree with a decision we’ve made on your child support case, you can object to it. You can do this if you think we’ve:
- used wrong or old information
- not considered all the facts
- missed important details
- not applied the law correctly.
You can object to most decisions about child support. There are time limits for doing this.
Objecting a decision is not the same as providing us with feedback or making a complaint.
Find out more about objections to child support decisions.
Getting a stay order
If the parent receiving child support has asked us to collect payments, we are legally required to do so. We can also enforce payment of overdue amounts.
The only time we can’t collect child support is if there is a temporary court order telling us not to. This is called a stay order.
A stay order may mean we must stop collecting or paying child support payments until the court makes a final court order or decision.
A stay order can also take away the effect of a decision if one of you appeals a decision that changes your assessment, for example a change in your percentage of care. If this happens, we’ll continue to collect and pay the child support payments as they were before the change came into effect.
You can only apply for a stay order for child support if at least one of the following apply:
- you have a current court case involving child support
- you are going through an appeal with the Administrative Review Tribunal
- you are going through an objection or change of assessment process.
Stay orders are made by the court. You may want to get legal advice about whether a stay order is right for you.