On August last year, the Minister for Children and Youth announced the terms of reference and membership of a Ministerial Taskforce and Reference Group to examine Australia's child support scheme. This followed the Prime Minister's announcement of 29 July 2004 of proposals to reform the Family Law System in Australia.

The registration and collection aspects of the Child Support Scheme were introduced in 1988, and the formula for assessment in 1989. Although there have been numerous modifications to the formula over the years, the fundamentals remain unchanged. The basic formula under the Scheme requires liable parents to pay a percentage of their taxable income after a self-support component is deducted. 

This report proposes a fundamental change to the Child Support Scheme and makes 30 recommendations to do so.