How effective is the child support enforcement between US (California)
Australia if a court order was placed in California for child support
on an Australian national living in Sydney?

Good afternoon bushone and thank you for your question.

According to the US Department of State, the United States has entered
into child support enforcement agreements with:

** Australia **
Canadian provinces of:

     Alberta
     British Columbia
     Manitoba
     New Branswick
     Newfoundland/Labrador
     Nova Scotia
     Ontario

Czech Republic
Ireland
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Slovak Republic.

These international child support agreements specify procedures for
establishing and enforcing child support orders across borders.


?Q. How can parent seeking child support enforcement from a foreign
reciprocating country go about applying for enforcement?

A. In the United States, individual state child support offices are
responsible for providing the child support services within the state
and for cooperating with other states and foreign reciprocating
countries. The state child support office or "IV-D agency" will manage
the establishment and enforcement of child support obligations in
accordance with Federal, state, and local laws. ANY PARENT WHO NEEDS
HELP IN ESTABLISHING OR ENFORCING A CHILD SUPPORT OBLIGATION,
REGARDLESS OF WHERE THE PERSON WHO IS OBLIGED TO PAY CHILD SUPPORT
RESIDES, SHOULD APPLY FOR SERVICES AT THE STATE CHILD SUPPORT AGENCY
IN THE INDIVIDUAL STATES.?


Source:  US Department of State
( http://travel.state.gov/law/info/info_608.html#agreements )

For a map of child support agencies across the U.S, please refer to
the following page:

( http://www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/cse/extinf.htm/ )

Or to contact a specific California Child Support Agency by county,
please visit their website at:

( http://www.childsup.cahwnet.gov/county_locations.asp )

Additionally, you can contact the central authorities of the foreign
countries with which the US has federal or state reciprocal
arrangements for child support enforcement with.  For Australia,
please contact:

The Child Support Registrar
Australian Child Support Agency
GPO Box 480
Hobart, Tasmania
7001 Australia 

Tel: 61 03 6216 0864
Fax: 61 03 6216 0899
Email: csaoverseas@csa.gov.au 

If you ask your state agency for help collecting, don?t give up.  Even
though they try to be responsive, enforcement agencies have a very
high demand for their services. Be sure to follow up regularly with
your caseworker to make sure that they are actively working your case.

Working in a law firm that handles many divorce cases, I have dealt
with many child support issues over the past few years.  I have
learned that knowledge is power - the more you know about child
support enforcement procedures where you and the non-custodial parent
live, the better you will be able to exercise your rights and
responsibilities under the law.  An informed parent can make the child
support enforcement system work.

If and when you contact the child support agency, keep a written
account of the actions taken and the outcomes of those actions. Do not
hesitate to ask questions and make suggestions to your enforcement
caseworker. If you are not satisfied with the actions taken on your
behalf, contact the head of the local CSE office as well as to the
director of the State Child Support Enforcement agency

If this answer requires further explanation, please request
clarification before rating it, and I'll be happy to look into this
further. Good luck!

Nenna-GA
Google Answers Researcher


Google Search Terms:

child support CA Australia
(  ://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=child+support+CA+Australia )

---

Request for Answer Clarification by bushone-ga on 18 Aug 2005 09:03 PDT

THanks for your well articulated answer. 

My emphasis was on "what action would be taken if the respondee in
Australia fails to meet the child enforcement obligations".

Again, thanks nenna-ga

---

Clarification of Answer by nenna-ga on 18 Aug 2005 10:24 PDT

Thank you for your clarification.  

Working in a law firm based in the US that deals with many divorce and
custody cases, I can tell you NO action will be taken if the Respondee
residing in Australia fails to meet the child support obligations
UNLESS the Petitioner calls the child support enforcement agency in
the state/county the child support was ordered in and reports the
Respondent's failure to pay.

To be quite frank, courts and child support agencies are too busy to
keep track of the people who haven't paid.  They log the payments and
keep track of missed payments but do not go after the Respondent on
their own accord .  It is up to the Petitioner to raise the red flag
is the Respondent doesn?t pay per the decree.

I hope this helps answer any questions you may have.

Regards,

Nenna-GA

Very much appreciate the response!

Thank you very much for the rating and good luck!

Nenna-GA