Child Support (Assessment) Act 1989
3Duty of parents to maintain their children
Start here
Get a plain-English read of 3
Turn the raw legal text into a practical explanation grounded in Child Support (Assessment) Act 1989.
3 Duty of parents to maintain their children
(1) The parents of a child have the primary duty to maintain the child. (2) Without limiting subsection (1), the duty of a parent to maintain a child: (a) is not of lower priority than the duty of the parent to maintain any other child or another person; and (b) has priority over all commitments of the parent other than commitments necessary to enable the parent to support: (i) himself or herself; and (ii) any other child or another person that the parent has a duty to maintain; and (c) is not affected by: (i) the duty of any other person to maintain the child; or (ii) any entitlement of the child or another person to an income tested pension, allowance or benefit.