Child Support Reciprocal Agreement with Australia on Track

The child support reciprocal agreement between Australia and New Zealand moved a step closer today with the tabling of the agreement in the Australian Parliament, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the Minister of Revenue, Mr Wright, said today.

'This means that the agreement is on target to take effect from 1 July this year.

'New Zealand made minor legislative changes to its Child Support Act last year to pave the way for the agreement and will give effect to the agreement itself by an Order in Council before 1 June this year,' Mr Wright said.

The agreement will apply to both child support and spousal maintenance and will allow each country to enforce payment if a person defaults in his or her payments. When enforcing payment, each country will use the same procedures that it uses for its own debtors. The agreement will also allow each country to exchange information to locate defaulters and/or to assess child support liability.