Child Support Policy in Australia and the United Kingdom: Changing Priorities But a Similar Tough Deal for Children?

Posted: 12 Mar 2009

See all articles by Belinda Fehlberg

Belinda Fehlberg

University of Melbourne - Law School

Mavis MacLean

University of Oxford - Department of Social Policy and Social Work

Date Written: April 2009

Abstract

This article examines shifts in child support law and policy in Australia and the UK since the establishment of child support schemes in both jurisdictions from the late 1980s. Our analysis suggests that while original policy goals in Australia and the UK were broadly similar, they also diverged in important respects. Further, legislative and operational elements of the respective schemes as originally enacted have played a key role in influencing subsequent shifts in the substance and policy of the regimes. Yet the practical implications of currently diverging law and policy approaches are likely to be similar, in that most fathers will pay less child support in the future.

Suggested Citation

Fehlberg, Belinda and MacLean, Mavis, Child Support Policy in Australia and the United Kingdom: Changing Priorities But a Similar Tough Deal for Children? (April 2009). International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family, Vol. 23, Issue 1, pp. 1-24, 2009, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1357974 or http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/lawfam/ebn015

Belinda Fehlberg (Contact Author)

University of Melbourne - Law School ( email )

University Square
185 Pelham Street, Carlton
Victoria, Victoria 3010
Australia

Mavis MacLean

University of Oxford - Department of Social Policy and Social Work ( email )

Wellington Square
Oxford OX1 2ER, OX1 2ER
United Kingdom

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Abstract Views
520
PlumX Metrics