Sharing Custody Expenses in Queensland: School Fees, Medical Costs, and Extracurriculars

The Basic Formula Does Not Cover Everything

The child support formula administered by Services Australia calculates a base contribution toward the cost of raising a child, based on each parent's income and care percentage. It covers routine expenses — food, housing, clothing, everyday transport. What it does not automatically cover are the additional costs that separated parents routinely argue about: private school tuition, orthodontics, competitive sports fees, musical instrument lessons, school excursions, and specialist medical treatments.

These "add-on" expenses sit outside the formula, and unless parents reach a clear agreement about how they will be divided, they become a recurring source of conflict. A parent enrols the child in private swimming lessons at A$2,000 per year and expects the other parent to pay half. The other parent says they were never consulted and refuses. The child is caught in the middle.

What the Parenting Plan Should Address

A well-drafted parenting plan or Consent Orders should include a specific clause allocating responsibility for major child-related expenses. The most common approaches are:

Proportional split based on income. Each parent pays a percentage of the expense equal to their share of the combined income. If one parent earns 60% of the combined income and the other 40%, the first parent pays 60% of the orthodontic bill. This mirrors the logic of the child support formula and is generally considered fair.

Equal split (50/50). Each parent pays half, regardless of income. This is simpler to administer but can create hardship when there is a significant income disparity between the parents.

One parent pays specific categories. The parenting plan allocates entire categories to one parent — one parent covers all school-related costs, the other covers all medical costs. This works when both parents have roughly similar income and the categories are roughly equal in cost, but it can become unbalanced over time.

Decision-maker pays. Whichever parent makes the decision to incur the expense is responsible for paying the full cost. This discourages unilateral decision-making but can also discourage a parent from enrolling the child in beneficial activities because they do not want to bear the full cost.

The Consent Requirement

Regardless of how expenses are split, the critical question is whether both parents must agree before an expense is incurred. A common parenting plan clause provides:

Neither parent will enrol the child in an activity, school, or medical treatment that costs more than [threshold amount, e.g., A$200] per term without the written agreement of the other parent. If agreement cannot be reached, the parents will attend mediation before either parent commits to the expense.

The threshold amount is flexible — A$100, A$200, A$500 — and should reflect the family's financial circumstances. Without a threshold, every purchase of school shoes or a new soccer ball technically requires consultation, which is impractical. With too high a threshold, one parent can make significant financial commitments unilaterally.

School Fees

Private school fees are the single largest potential add-on expense. Annual fees at Brisbane private schools range from A$8,000 to A$35,000+, and the commitment is ongoing for years. Key considerations:

• If the child was already enrolled before separation, the parents should address how the existing commitment will be funded in their agreement. Withdrawing a child from a school they have attended for years — disrupting friendships, routine, and educational continuity — is the kind of unilateral decision courts look unfavourably upon.
• If one parent wants to enrol the child in a new private school after separation, the other parent's agreement or a court order may be required where the parents share responsibility for that major long-term decision. A parent cannot simply enrol the child and then demand the other parent pay half.
• If parents cannot agree, the parent seeking the private school enrolment can apply to Services Australia for a Change of Assessment under "Reason 8" — the cost of caring for the child in the manner expected by the parents. Services Australia will consider the family's history of spending on education and decide whether the private school expense is appropriate.

Medical and Dental Costs

Routine medical costs covered by Medicare (GP visits, basic dental check-ups for children, hospital stays in the public system) are generally absorbed into the basic child support formula. Costs that create disputes are those that fall outside Medicare:

• Orthodontics (braces, aligners): A$5,000 to A$12,000
• Private specialist consultations: A$200 to A$600 per visit
• Psychology or counselling sessions: A$150 to A$300 per session
• Speech therapy or occupational therapy: A$150 to A$250 per session
• Prescription medications for chronic conditions

A sensible parenting plan clause distinguishes between emergency medical decisions (where the parent with care can act immediately and inform the other parent afterwards) and elective treatments (which require prior written agreement and a cost-sharing arrangement).

Extracurricular Activities

Sports registrations, music lessons, dance classes, art programs, coding camps — these are the expenses that generate the most day-to-day friction because they are frequent, discretionary, and often initiated by only one parent.

A practical approach is to agree on a maximum annual extracurricular budget per child and split it according to the agreed formula. If the budget is A$2,000 per year and one parent wants to enrol the child in a A$3,000 program, they cover the excess. This gives both parents a say in the overall spending level while allowing flexibility in how the budget is allocated.

Activities that occur during one parent's parenting time should be discussed before enrolment — if swimming lessons are on Saturday mornings and Saturday is the other parent's day, enrolling the child without consultation creates a scheduling conflict on top of a financial one.

Formal Agreements Through Services Australia

If parents cannot agree informally on expense sharing, two formal mechanisms exist:

Limited Child Support Agreement. A written agreement signed by both parents and registered with Services Australia. It must be broadly consistent with the basic formula assessment. Either parent can terminate it after three years, or sooner if the formula assessment changes by more than 15%.

Binding Child Support Agreement. A permanent contract where both parents must receive independent legal advice and have their lawyers sign certificates confirming the advice was provided. It can specify any payment arrangement — including one parent paying 100% of school fees directly to the school. Once registered, it can only be terminated by mutual agreement or a court order.

The Queensland Child Custody and Parenting Plan Guide includes an expense-sharing worksheet and sample clauses for parenting plans that cover school fees, medical costs, extracurricular activities, and travel expenses — with templates for both proportional and equal split arrangements.

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