95Effect of certain provisions of accepted child support agreements

95 Effect of certain provisions of accepted child support agreements

(1) This section applies in relation to a child support agreement that has been accepted by the Registrar. (2) If the agreement includes: (a) provisions under which a party is to pay child support for a child to another party in the form of periodic amounts paid to the other party; or (b) provisions under which the rate at which a party is already liable to pay child support for a child to another party in the form of periodic amounts paid to the other party is varied; or (c) provisions agreeing between parties any other matter that may be included in an order made by a court under Division 4 of Part 7 (Orders for departure from administrative assessment in special circumstances); the provisions have effect, for the purposes of Part 5 and section 142, as if they were an order made by consent by a court under Division 4 of Part 7. (3) If the agreement includes non‑periodic payment provisions: (a) the provisions have effect, for the purposes of this Act, as if they were a statement made by a court under section 125 in an order made under section 124; and (b) if the provisions or the agreement is registered in a court having jurisdiction under Part VII of the Family Law Act 1975—Division 13A of Part VII, and Parts XIII and XIIIB, of that Act apply in relation to the provisions as if the provisions were an order made by the court under Part VII of that Act.

Note 1: The effect of paragraph (3)(a) is that the Registrar must make any subsequent administrative assessment on the basis of the annual rate of child support as reduced by the amount or percentage specified in the child support agreement (see section 127).

Note 2: This section does not deal with lump sum payment provisions (see paragraph 84(1)(e) of this Act and section 69A of the Registration and Collection Act).

(5) The provisions of the agreement have effect despite any inconsistency with a court order made before the agreement was entered into. (6) Where any difficulty arises in the application of this section in or in relation to a particular proceeding, the court exercising jurisdiction in the proceeding may, on the application of a party to the proceeding or of its own motion, give such directions, and make such orders, as it considers appropriate to resolve the difficulty.