Who pays school fees after separation

Who pays school fees after separation? The short answer

There is no automatic rule that private school fees are split 50/50, or that the parent paying child support also pays the fees. What happens depends on what the parents agree, what the children's schooling looked like before separation, and whether either parent asks Services Australia or the Court to step in.

In practice, most separated parents with children at private school end up in one of four places: an informal agreement, a formal child support agreement, a change of assessment, or (rarely) a court order. The earlier you talk about it, the more options you keep open, and the less likely a term invoice becomes the trigger for a bigger dispute.

What the child support formula covers

A child support assessment from Services Australia — Child Support uses a formula based on both parents' incomes, the number and ages of the children, and how much care each parent has. The formula is designed to cover the general costs of raising children, including ordinary schooling costs. It is not designed to cover private school fees, which vary enormously from school to school.

That gap matters. A family whose children were at a private school before separation can find the assessed amount falls well short of the real cost of keeping them there, while a parent paying child support may feel they are being asked to pay twice. Both views are understandable, and neither is resolved by the formula alone.

Four ways school fees get shared

Options for sharing school fees after separation

Option	How it works	Binding?	Best suited to
Informal agreement	Parents agree a split (e.g. by income share) and pay the school directly	No	Low-conflict parents with steady incomes
Child support agreement	A limited or binding agreement registered with Services Australia, which can include school fees	Yes, once accepted	Parents who want certainty for several years
Change of assessment	A parent applies to Services Australia to adjust the assessment for education costs	Yes, as part of the assessment	Where both parents intended private schooling but cannot agree the split
Court orders	Orders about decision-making on schooling, or departure orders for child support	Yes	Entrenched disputes after other options have failed

Sources: Services Australia child support guidance; Family Law Act 1975 (Cth). Rules change, so check current details before relying on them.

Many families combine options: an informal agreement for this year's fees while they work towards a formal agreement covering the rest of the children's schooling.

Change of assessment for school fees

If parents cannot agree, either parent can ask Services Australia to change the assessment because of special circumstances. According to Services Australia: Changing your assessment in special circumstances, one of the recognised reasons is that the costs of raising the child are significantly affected because the child is being cared for, educated or trained in the way both parents intended. Attending a private school is the classic example.

The key words are both parents intended. Evidence that helps includes enrolment decisions made together before separation, years of attendance at the school, emails or messages discussing schooling, and the family's financial position when the decision was made. A child enrolled at an expensive school by one parent after separation, over the other's objection, is a very different case.

The application is free, but it takes time, and the outcome is not guaranteed. Either parent can object to a decision, and the process can become adversarial if it is used as a first step rather than a fallback.

Paying fees directly: non-agency credits

Sometimes the paying parent pays the school directly instead of, or as well as, paying child support. Services Australia can treat some of these payments as "prescribed non-agency payments". Its guidance on Services Australia: Non-agency payments explains the key conditions:

• The paying parent must have less than 14% care of the children.
• The paying parent must be paying at least 70% of their monthly child support on time.
• The credit is capped at 30% of the monthly liability, and unused credit can carry forward.
• Eligible items include school fees, uniforms and books, and certain child care and essential medical and dental costs.
• Keep receipts and send proof of payment, or the credit may not be applied.

These credits are a safety net, not a plan. They rarely match the full cost of private school fees, and they can create friction if the receiving parent did not expect them. Agreeing in advance how direct payments will be treated avoids that surprise.

Child support agreements and school fees

A child support agreement lets parents set their own arrangement and register it with Services Australia. There are two types:

• Limited child support agreements need a child support assessment in place and must provide at least the assessed amount. They suit parents who want to add school fees on top of the formula.
• Binding child support agreements can set any amount, including payments made directly to the school instead of periodic payments. Each parent must get independent legal advice before signing, and the lawyers sign certificates confirming it.

A well-drafted agreement deals with the details that cause later disputes: which school (or what happens if the child changes schools), which costs are included (tuition, levies, camps, uniforms, devices), each parent's share, when payments are made, and what happens if a parent's income changes significantly. Our child support guide explains how agreements sit alongside assessments.

Who decides which school?

The fee question often hides a bigger one: which school the child should attend. Choosing a school is a major long-term decision about the child. Unless orders say otherwise, both parents generally have parental responsibility, and under the Family Law Act 1975 parenting orders can set out whether major long-term decisions such as education are made jointly or by one parent. Since the May 2024 reforms there is no presumption of equal shared parental responsibility; the focus is the child's best interests.

Fairness usually means discussing affordability and the child's needs together, before a decision is made. Where one parent wants a private school and the other cannot afford a share, options include a lower-fee school, a contribution in proportion to income, grandparent help, or a staged approach such as public primary and private secondary.

If you cannot agree, a court can decide, but it will look at the child's best interests and the family's circumstances, and the process is slow and expensive compared with a negotiated outcome. Before filing for parenting orders, FCFCOA family dispute resolution is generally required unless an exemption applies.

Agreeing school costs in mediation

School fee disputes are usually about money and values at once. One parent sees a private education as part of the life the children already have; the other sees a bill they did not choose and cannot easily meet. Child support mediation gives both parents room to say that, and then to move to numbers.

A typical mediation covers each parent's income and budget, the true annual cost of the school (not just tuition), possible splits, how fee increases and extras are handled, and a review point if circumstances change. Agreements can then be recorded in a parenting plan, a child support agreement, or consent orders with your lawyers' help.

Court has its place, but rarely as the best place to start a conversation about a school invoice. Most parents would rather spend the money on the fees.