Commonwealth Consolidated Regulations Commonwealth Consolidated Regulations (1) On the first court
date and the hearing date of an Application for spousal or de facto
maintenance, each party must bring to the court the following documents:
(a) a copy of the
party’s taxation returns for the 3 most recent financial years;
(b) the party’s
taxation assessments for the 3 most recent financial years;
(c) the party’s
bank records for the period of 3 years ending on the date on which the
application was filed;
(d) if the party
receives wages or salary payments — the party’s payslips for
the past 12 months;
(e) if the party owns
or controls a business, either as sole trader, partnership or a
company — the business activity statements and the financial
statements (including profit and loss statements and balance sheets) for the 3
most recent financial years of the business; and
(f) any other document
relevant to determining the income, needs and financial resources of the
party.
Note 1 Documents that may need to be produced under
paragraph (f) include documents setting out the details mentioned in rule
13.04.
Note 2 For modification of a spousal maintenance order,
see section 83 of the Act. For modification of a de facto maintenance order,
see section 90SI of the Act.
(2) Before the hearing
date, a party must produce the documents mentioned in subrule (1) for
inspection, if the other party to the proceedings makes a written request for
their production.
(3) If a request is
made under subrule (2), the documents must be produced within 7 working days
of the request being received.
Overview of proceedings to which this Division applies
Child support
Applications may be made under the following provisions of the Child
Support (Assessment) Act 1989 :
• subsection 95 (6), section 98 or 136
about a child support agreement that has been accepted by the Registrar
• sections 106A and 107 about who is or who
is not the parent of the child
• section 111 seeking a departure from
administrative assessment backdated over 18 months and up to 7 years
• section 118 for departure from
administrative assessment as follows:
• if the Child
Support Registrar has refused to determine the departure application because
the issues are too complex (sections 98E and 98R);
• if the court
has a discretion to determine the application because there is another
application pending before the court and the court is satisfied that special
circumstances exist to enable it to determine both applications (section 116);
• if there is a
minimum administrative assessment (paragraph 116 (1) (c))
• section 123 for lump sum or non periodic
payments of child support
• section 129 to vary a prior order for lump
sum or non periodic child support
• section 139 seeking urgent maintenance
after an application has been made for administrative assessment of child
support, but has yet to be determined
• section 143 for recovery of child support
paid when a person is not liable to pay child support
Note Applications should not be made under this Division
unless an associated matter is pending in the court or filing with the Federal
Magistrates Court is not available. Under section 33B of the Family Law Act
1975 , the Family Court may transfer the proceeding to the Federal Magistrates
Court without notice to the parties.
Section 110B of the Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988
allows appeals from the Social Security Appeals Tribunal on questions of law.
Applications may be made under the section 111C of the Child Support
(Registration and Collection) Act 1988 for an order staying (suspending) the
operation of the Act and the Child Support (Assessment) Act 1989 , until the
finalisation of court proceedings.
Child maintenance
Applications may be made for child maintenance under Division 7 of
Part VII of the Family Law Act in relation to children to whom the child
support scheme does not apply. Applications may also be made under
Parts III and IV of the Family Law Regulations.