• Both parents are responsible for his well beingchild image by Renata Osinska from Fotolia.com
  
  Australian Child Support Laws are dictated by the Family Law Act of 1975. Cases involving child support are heard in the Family Court and apply to all families whether or not the parents are married.
  
  

Child Support Assessment Act

• The Child Support Assessment Act dictates that a child's primary care provider can apply to receive child support from the other parent. If the child will be living with and be cared for by his mother for the majority of the time, the mother can apply for child support from the father. The paperwork is administered by the Child Support Agency, which also determines the amount of child support to be paid.
  
  

Parents in Different Countries

• According to the Australia Child Support Agency (CSA), separated parents may still be able to collect child support even if one of them moves overseas. They work with the foreign country's government to work out the details. If one parent moves to New Zealand, for example, the governments of Australia and New Zealand allow for child support payments to be collected on the others behalf.
  
  

Sperm Donors Not Responsible for Child Support

• As of 2008, a legal loophole that allowed women to pursue sperm donors for child support was closed. A woman's husband or partner who creates a child with her using IVF treatment is legally responsible for the child. Women who obtain samples from a sperm bank and become pregnant that way cannot seek the donor for child support payments.
  
  

Same Sex Couples

• The same child support laws apply to same sex couples. Both parents are responsible for the child if the birth mother and her partner were in a de-facto relationship at the time of conception and if both partners agreed to IVF treatment at the time of conception. Lesbian couples are considered parents of a child even if both of their names do not appear on the birth certificate.