Simon Bacon — Child Support Advocate Helping Australian Parents

Standing Up for Parents in the Child Support System

The Australian child support system is one of the most complex and consequential administrative schemes a separated parent will ever deal with. A single assessment can dictate how much money moves between two households for years, and the figures it produces are not always fair, accurate or reflective of the real lives behind them. When the numbers feel wrong, most parents have no idea where to start — and the agency rarely explains it for them.

That is where Simon Bacon comes in. Simon is a child support advocate who has spent decades helping Australian parents understand, challenge and navigate their child support obligations and entitlements. He is recognised as one of the most authoritative voices on child support law in Australia, and he puts that depth of knowledge to work for ordinary mums and dads who simply want a fair and correct outcome.

If you have received an assessment you do not understand, been hit with a debt you did not expect, or watched your circumstances change while your child support stayed frozen in the past, you do not have to face Services Australia alone.

What a Child Support Advocate Does

Child support in Australia is administered by Services Australia (Child Support) — the body many parents still know as the Child Support Agency — under the framework of the Child Support (Assessment) Act 1989. The system is rules-driven, formula-driven and document-heavy. It assumes you already understand concepts like adjusted taxable income, care percentages, the costs of the children, and the difference between an objection and a change of assessment.

As a child support advocate, Simon Bacon bridges that gap. He works alongside you to:

• Explain exactly how your assessment was calculated and where it may be wrong
• Identify whether an objection, a change of assessment, or a review is the right path
• Prepare and lodge applications and supporting evidence that actually address the agency's criteria
• Deal with Services Australia on the technical detail so you are not negotiating blind
• Challenge errors, outdated income figures and assessments that ignore your real circumstances
• Help you respond when the other parent lodges an application against you
• Keep you on top of time limits, deadlines and the right sequence of steps
• Litigation in the Administrative Review Tribunal and the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (and its interstate counterparts)

This is advisory, advocacy and tribunal work within the administrative and merits-review system rather than the courts. Simon's role is to level the playing field — to make sure your case is put properly, the relevant law is applied, and your circumstances are heard.

Who Simon Helps

Simon assists separated parents on both sides of an assessment — paying parents and receiving parents alike. Child support disputes are rarely about people who refuse to support their children; far more often they are about a formula that has produced a result that does not fit the family it is meant to serve.

Parents come to Simon when they are:

• Paying child support based on an income that no longer reflects reality
• Receiving child support that does not account for the true costs of raising the children
• Facing a parent who has reduced their income, gone self-employed, or is hiding earning capacity
• Carrying a child support debt that has grown beyond anything they can manage
• Confused by a sudden change in their assessment after a change in care arrangements
• Dealing with an agency decision they believe is simply wrong
• Worried about the interaction between child support, tax and family payments

Whatever side of the equation you are on, the goal is the same: an assessment that is accurate, lawful and fair.

The Core Problems Simon Tackles

Unfair and Inaccurate Assessments

The child support formula relies heavily on taxable income and care percentages. When those inputs are wrong, out of date, or fail to capture a parent's genuine financial position, the result can be deeply unfair. Simon examines the assessment line by line and identifies where it can be challenged.

Agency Errors

Services Australia processes an enormous volume of assessments, and mistakes happen — miscalculated care, the wrong income year applied, incorrect dates, or decisions made without all the facts. Many parents simply accept these errors because they do not know they can be disputed. Simon does know, and he knows how to put them right.

Change of Assessment and Special Circumstances

The standard formula cannot account for every family's reality. The change of assessment process exists for exactly that reason, allowing an assessment to be varied where special circumstances apply — high costs of spending time with a child, special needs, a parent's true earning capacity, or significant financial resources that the formula overlooks. Simon prepares change of assessment applications that squarely meet the recognised reasons. Learn more on the Change of Assessment page.

Child Support Debts

Debts can accumulate quickly, especially where an assessment was wrong from the outset. Simon helps parents understand how a debt arose, whether the underlying assessment can still be challenged, and how to deal constructively with the agency rather than letting the problem grow.

Why Having an Advocate Matters

Services Australia is not your adviser. It administers the scheme, applies the formula and makes decisions — but it does not sit on your side of the table, and it will not build your case for you. Parents who go it alone often miss the one argument that would have changed the outcome, lodge the wrong type of application, or run out of time before they realise they had options.

An experienced child support advocate changes that dynamic. Simon knows the legislation, the policy, the decision-making criteria and the practical realities of how the agency operates. He knows which arguments carry weight, what evidence is persuasive, and how to frame a case so it is taken seriously. Just as importantly, he takes the stress and confusion off your shoulders so you can focus on your children and your life.

For an honest assessment of whether your child support situation can be improved, the first step is simply a conversation.

Talk to Simon Bacon Today

If something about your child support feels wrong, it may well be — and there may be a clear path to fixing it. Simon Bacon offers parents straight, practical guidance grounded in decades of child support experience.

You can read more about Simon on the About page, explore your options on the Child Support Disputes and Change of Assessment pages, or find quick answers in the FAQ.

When you are ready to talk it through, call Simon Bacon on (02) 9137 4130. One conversation can give you clarity on where you stand and what to do next.