The Commonwealth ombudsman has released his long-awaited report into the "weaponisation" of the child support program.
Authors
- Kay Cook
Professor and Associate Dean Research, School of Social Sciences, Media, Film and Education, Swinburne University of Technology
- Adrienne Byrt
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Swinburne University of Technology
He has identified widespread financial abuse throughout the system. This includes parents not making payments, lying to reduce their income and being abusive or violent to stop ex-partners seeking help.
The ombudsman has found Services Australia, which administers the scheme, is not using its available powers to stop the abuse and force ex-partners to support their children. As a result, 153,000 parents have a combined A$1.9 billion in unpaid child support.
The report adds to the growing evidence the child-support scheme is failing families, especially women. The system hasn't been working for a very long time, if it ever did.
Ombudsman's report
More than 1.2 million separated parents have child-support arrangements for an estimated one million children. Some 84% of parents receiving payments are women.
According to the report, 32% of complaints about the child-support scheme reported it was being weaponised by ex-partners. This figure only includes people who were persistent enough to proceed all the way to the ombudsman.
In addition, these complainants were women who braved possible repurcussions from ex-partners, who may be abusive. Given the context of fear, the statistic is undeniable.
Ombudsman Iain Anderson has found the abuse is being made worse by the tax system, which calculates income assuming all support payments have been made, even if they haven't.
Preventing weaponisation is really important because child support is all about children - vulnerable children - who need to be financially supported while they are growing up.
The same problems with the tax system were identified by a report earlier this year by the Inspector General of Taxation and Tax Ombudsman Ruth Owen.
Toothless tiger
The report finds Services Australia, the government agency responsible for Centrelink, is acting in an "unfair and unreasonable" manner by not using its available powers to enforce payments.
This passive approach is unfair. It allows some paying parents to manipulate the system to avoid their financial responsibility in raising heir children largely without consequences.
The report recommends Services Australia:
publicly outline its plan to tackle financial abuse through the child support system
introduce a range of measures to enforce child support payments
refine data collection approaches
review its Lodgement Enforcement Program
support its staff to undertake training on financial abuse through the child-support system
review its change of assessment process.
The report notes the legislative provisions underpinning Services Australia are also "unfair and unreasonable".
Recommendations for government action include
amending legislation to overcome legal roadblocks to enforcing child support payments
providing the ombudsman with a comprehensive progress report within the next 12 months.
Circuit breaker
There have been countless reviews calling to rebalance the system in the interests of women and children.
They include our 2023 report on child-support weaponisation and the government's financial abuse inquiry in 2024.
Yet there has been scant action to date. Indeed our survey of 540 women exposed the scale of the problem for the first time.
This new ombudsman's report might be the final push to action that the government needs due to its timing and specifics.
First, both Minister for Women Katy Gallagher and newly appointed Minister for Social Services Tanya Plibersek have acknowledged the need for change.
The 2024 women's budget statement acknowledged child support was being abused. An internal review had been taking place to examine how the child support, family tax benefit and taxation systems are being weaponised.
Second, the ombudsman's report draws on Services Australia data to shed light on the issue. Much of this information has not previously been made public. Some statistics have been reluctantly released due to dogged questioning in Senate Estimates over many years by the new Greens leader, Larissa Waters.
The ombudsman used his legislative powers to request and obtain information from Services Australia, as well as attending its offices to furnish his report. The data adds substantial weight to the findings.
A safer system
Many of the root problems with the child-support program stem from reforms brought in during the Howard era , compounded by the welfare to work measures which targeted single parents.
Immediately after separation can be the most dangerous time for women. Perpetrators can use mandatory government systems, such as child support, to financially control and harm ex-partners and their own children.
The ombudsman's report will give some hope to the 12% of Australian families headed by single mothers that the government will take action to make the system safe and fair for all women and children.
Kay Cook receives funding from the Australian Research Council in the form of a Discovery Project grant on, 'Prioritising women's financial safety: Developing institutional interventions for intimate partner financial abuse'. She is a member of the Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee.
Adrienne Byrt does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
