About the child support lodgment enforcement program
The Child Support Scheme plays a crucial role in:
- promoting the wellbeing of children
- supporting separated families.
It is administered by Services Australia.
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) child support lodgment enforcement program pursues lodgment outcomes for Child Support Scheme clients referred by Services Australia each year. This helps Services Australia to:
- determine child support obligations
- recover debt through tax refund intercepts.
These collaborative efforts strengthen the integrity and effectiveness of child support administration in Australia.
Services Australia maintains formal arrangements with the ATO that outline the information and data shared between the agencies about mutual clients.
To obtain reliable income information for use in child support income assessments, the program requires both child support payers and payees to lodge tax returns.
Program objectives
Our data-matching programs help us fulfil our responsibility to protect public revenue and maintain community confidence in the integrity of the tax and superannuation systems.
The objectives of the child support lodgment enforcement program are to secure lodgment outcomes that:
- allow Services Australia to more accurately assess child support obligations
- allow Services Australia to maximise opportunities to collect child support debts
- identify and educate individuals who may be failing to meet their lodgment obligations and help them to
- finalise their lodgment obligations, or
- notify us that an income tax return is not required
- develop and implement strategies to address late and non-lodgment, which may include educational or compliance activities for individuals in business and individuals not in business
- support the administration of the program, through lodged income tax returns
- promote voluntary compliance and increase community confidence in the integrity of the tax and superannuation systems.
Why we look at child support lodgment enforcement program data
Our program will allow us to identify and address tax risks and assist Services Australia to manage child support program risks including:
- failure to lodge (late and non-lodgment of income tax returns and activity statements)
- accuracy of child support assessments
- recovery of child support debts.
For more information see:
- Identification and management of financial abuse within the tax systemExternal Link
- Weaponising child support: when the system fails families (PDF 7.8MB)This link will download a file