{"id":"F2018L00261","name":"Maintenance Orders (Commonwealth Officers) Regulations 2018","slug":"maintenance-orders-commonwealth-officers-regulations-2018","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":439527,"registerId":"F2018L00261-fast-fetch-1775955518758","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Maintenance Orders (Commonwealth Officers) Regulations 2018","content":"---\nmeta-content-style-type: text/css\nmeta-content-type: application/xhtml+xml; charset=utf-8\n---\n\n?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-8\" standalone=\"no\"?>\n\n![](image.001.jpeg)\n\n \n\nMaintenance Orders (Commonwealth Officers) Regulations 2018\n\nI, General the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove AK MC (Ret’d), Governor‑General of the Commonwealth of Australia, acting with the advice of the Federal Executive Council, make the following regulations.\n\nDated 15 March 2018\n\nPeter Cosgrove\n\nGovernor‑General\n\nBy His Excellency’s Command\n\nChristian Porter\n\nAttorney‑General\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nContents\n\n1 Name\n\n2 Commencement\n\n3 Authority\n\n4 Schedules\n\n5 Definitions\n\n6 Service of orders on the Commonwealth or a Commonwealth authority\n\n7 Classes of moneys exempt from application of applied laws\n\nSchedule 1—Repeals\n\nMaintenance Orders (Commonwealth Officers) Regulations 1969\n\n \n\n1  Name\n\n  This instrument is the Maintenance Orders (Commonwealth Officers) Regulations 2018.\n\n2  Commencement\n\n (1) Each provision of this instrument specified in column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.\n\n \n\n- Commencement information\n- Column 1 Column 2 Column 3\n- Provisions Commencement Date/Details\n- 1. The whole of this instrument The day after this instrument is registered. 16 March 2018\n\n\nNote: This table relates only to the provisions of this instrument as originally made. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this instrument.\n\n (2) Any information in column 3 of the table is not part of this instrument. Information may be inserted in this column, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of this instrument.\n\n3  Authority\n\n  This instrument is made under the Maintenance Orders (Commonwealth Officers) Act 1966.\n\n4  Schedules\n\n  Each instrument that is specified in a Schedule to this instrument is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other item in a Schedule to this instrument has effect according to its terms.\n\n5  Definitions\n\nNote: A number of expressions used in this instrument are defined in the Act, including the following:\n\n(a) attachment of earnings order;\n\n(b) Commonwealth authority;\n\n(c) maintenance order;\n\n(d) Territory;\n\n(e) the Commonwealth.\n\n  In this instrument:\n\nAct means the Maintenance Orders (Commonwealth Officers) Act 1966.\n\napplied law means the provisions of a law of a State or Territory applying under the Act.\n\nelectronic communication has the same meaning as in the Electronic Transactions Act 1999.\n\n6  Service of orders on the Commonwealth or a Commonwealth authority\n\n (1) For the purposes of paragraph 8(b) of the Act, this section sets out how any of the following orders made under an applied law, or a copy of any such order, may be served on the Commonwealth or a Commonwealth authority:\n\n (a) an attachment of earnings order directed to the Commonwealth or a Commonwealth authority;\n\n (b) an order discharging, suspending or varying an attachment of earnings order directed to the Commonwealth or a Commonwealth authority.\n\n (2) The order or copy may be served by leaving it at, or sending it to, the head office, a registered office or a principal office of:\n\n (a) if the order is directed to the Commonwealth—the Commonwealth body that is responsible for the payment of moneys to the person liable to make a payment under the maintenance order to which the attachment of earnings order relates; or\n\n (b) if the order is directed to a Commonwealth authority—the Commonwealth authority.\n\n (3) For the purposes of subsection (2), the order or copy may be sent by pre‑paid post or by means of an electronic communication.\n\n (4) This section does not limit the ways the order or copy may be served.\n\n7  Classes of moneys exempt from application of applied laws\n\n  For the purposes of paragraph 8(a) of the Act, the following classes of moneys are exempt from the application of applied laws:\n\n (a) moneys payable under the Veterans’ Entitlements Act 1986;\n\n (b) moneys payable under the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004.\n\nSchedule 1—Repeals\n\n \n\nMaintenance Orders (Commonwealth Officers) Regulations 1969\n\n1  The whole of the instrument\n\nRepeal the instrument.\n\n \n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation maintains the same narrow scope as the original 1969 regulations — governing how maintenance orders are served on Commonwealth employers and which payments are exempt from attachment. The 2018 version is a straightforward modernisation that adds electronic service methods and updates references, without expanding beyond the original purpose of facilitating enforcement of family maintenance orders against Commonwealth officers."},"complexity_factors":["Very short instrument (only 7 substantive sections plus a repeal schedule)","Minimal defined terms (only 3 definitions in section 5, plus references to defined terms in the parent Act)","Simple conditional logic (basic 'if/then' structure in section 6(2))","No nested exceptions or complex cross-referencing beyond the parent Act","Straightforward service mechanics (physical delivery or electronic communication)","Clear exemption list (only 2 specific classes of moneys exempted in section 7)"],"plain_english_summary":"This instrument sets practical rules for enforcing child support and spousal maintenance against Commonwealth employees and agencies, including how attachment‑of‑earnings orders are served on government bodies (by delivery, post or electronically to official offices). It also preserves two protected payments for veterans and defence compensation from seizure and repeals the 1969 regulations.\n\nIt affects Commonwealth payroll agencies, federal employees and service members, and state/territory courts enforcing maintenance."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"Yes. This instrument repeals the Maintenance Orders (Commonwealth Officers) Regulations 1969 (Schedule 1) and replaces them with updated rules. It sets explicit service routes for attachment orders (s 6), permits service by electronic communication (s 6(3)), and specifies that payments under the Veterans’ Entitlements Act 1986 and the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 are exempt from attachment (s 7). These are concrete changes in form and stated coverage compared with the instrument it repeals."},"complexity_factors":["Short, focused instrument with few provisions (ss 1–7 and Schedule 1) limiting legal scope and interpretive load.","Relies on cross‑references to the Maintenance Orders (Commonwealth Officers) Act 1966 (s 3) and definitions in that Act (s 5), requiring reading of the parent Act.","Service mechanics are specific but require identifying the correct Commonwealth body responsible for payment (s 6(2)(a))—an operational step that can complicate execution.","Permits electronic service (s 6(3)), creating interaction with the Electronic Transactions Act 1999 and operational standards for electronic communications.","Exemptions are narrowly defined (s 7) to two Commonwealth payment streams, so legal effect depends on mapping individual payments to those Acts.","Repeals the prior 1969 Regulations (Schedule 1), which may create transitional or interpretive questions where practices differ.","Section 6(4) preserves other methods of service, leaving some administrative discretion about acceptable service methods."],"plain_english_summary":"This regulation sets how State or Territory maintenance attachment orders are served on the Commonwealth or a Commonwealth authority (by leaving or sending to the body’s head, registered or principal office, including by prepaid post or electronic communication) and specifies two classes of Commonwealth payments that cannot be attached (payments under the Veterans’ Entitlements Act 1986 and the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004). It also repeals the 1969 Regulations and operates under the Maintenance Orders (Commonwealth Officers) Act 1966."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/maintenance-orders-commonwealth-officers-regulations-2018","history":"/api/acts/maintenance-orders-commonwealth-officers-regulations-2018/history","analysis":"/api/acts/maintenance-orders-commonwealth-officers-regulations-2018/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/maintenance-orders-commonwealth-officers-regulations-2018/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/maintenance-orders-commonwealth-officers-regulations-2018/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/maintenance-orders-commonwealth-officers-regulations-2018/documents"}}