Child support with 50/50 care

One of the most common misconceptions in the child support system: that equal care means nobody pays. With 50/50 care, child support is driven entirely by the income gap — and if one parent earns more, that parent generally still pays.

How the formula treats equal care

At 176–189 nights each (48–52% care), both parents sit in the equal-care band, so each is credited with meeting 50% of the children's costs directly. Child support then equalises the remainder: each parent's share of combined child support income is compared with their 50% cost share, and the parent whose income share exceeds 50% pays the difference.

A worked example

Say Parent A earns $110,000 and Parent B earns $60,000, with one 8-year-old child in a week-about arrangement. After deducting the 2026 self-support amount of $31,046 from each, Parent A has a child support income of $78,954 and Parent B $28,954 — a combined $107,908, of which Parent A's share is about 73%.

The costs of the child at that combined income are roughly $16,700 a year under the 2026 Costs of the Children table. Parent A's income share (73%) minus their cost share (50%) leaves a child support percentage of about 23%, so Parent A pays around $3,850 a year — roughly $74 a week — despite the children spending equal time in each home.

When 50/50 care does mean zero

If both parents' child support incomes are equal — or close enough that neither income share exceeds 50% — no child support is payable in either direction. Equal care plus equal income is the genuine zero case.

Costs the formula doesn't split

Even in equal-care arrangements, the assessment doesn't allocate specific expenses like school fees, private health cover or extracurricular activities. Parents either agree on those directly, deal with them through a binding or limited child support agreement, or in limited cases seek a change of assessment for special circumstances such as high private school costs the parents previously agreed to.

This is general information about the published formula, not legal advice. For a formal assessment, contact Services Australia.