George Christensen (Dawson, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs, I present the committee's report on the inquiry into the child support program entitled From conflict to cooperation, together with the minutes of the proceedings.

In accordance with standing order 39(e) the report was made a parliamentary paper.

by leave—The child support program is one of Australia's largest and most complex administrative schemes. More than a million children are covered by the program, created to ensure that the financial needs of children are catered for appropriately by parents in the event of parental separation.

From the outset, a relationship breakdown can be an extremely difficult time for family members with different points of stress evident between separating parents and children. With a change in family dynamic comes the need to redefine relationships and ensure that decisions taken reflect the needs of all family members, but with a particular focus on the welfare of the children involved. In many cases, separating parents are able to come to an amicable resolution in developing new family arrangements; however in some instances a high degree of conflict may be present.

The child support program is one of the more significant programs administered by the Australian government and, as such, has been the source of much debate since it was created in the 1980s. In part, this is because no administrative system can hope to deal perfectly with complex individual circumstances surrounding relationship breakdown and separation. It is also difficult to account for system participants, who more often than not enter into the child support system at one of the most difficult times in their lives, meaning that the program can become a lightning rod for much of the anger, disappointment and conflict that people may experience as a result of separation. Feelings about child support run deep.

The committee heard from nearly 12,000 individuals and groups around Australia during this inquiry. We have identified a number of ways in which the child support program could be improved. While in most cases the child support system functions properly, it is by no means perfect, and the committee has made 25 recommendations which will improve both the design of the scheme and its administration.

The committee's intention throughout the report has been to make recommendations which will help separated parents find ways to raise their children cooperatively, so that as many children as possible can grow up in homes that are free from ongoing conflict.

The first of the report's key recommendations is that the Australian government expand the role of mediation in the child support system. Mediation can help separating parents to refocus on the needs of their children, helping them to find ways to cooperate in their postseparation life. A carefully designed child support mediation program has the potential to substantially reduce the burden of conflict on the child support system.

The committee has recommended that the Australian government conduct a review of the child support formula. The last comprehensive review of the formula was conducted a decade ago, and the intervening years have seen substantial changes to the Australian economy and social welfare system. It is important that the Australian government ensures that the formula does not drift into unfairness.

Further recommendations in this report focus on communication. It can be very difficult to understand how the child support system works, and the agency charged with administering the system has not always done a good job in explaining its decisions to child support clients. The committee has recommended that the Australian government make a range of improvements to the way the Department of Human Services communicates with child support program clients.

The committee has also recommended that the Australian government create a specialist family violence unit within the Department of Human Services. This will help to ensure that victims of family violence receive appropriate services from the Australian government so that child support is not used as a venue for continuing abuse.

In addition, the committee has recommended that the government conduct research into a limited child support guarantee. A guarantee could potentially provide much needed support to the most vulnerable child support clients, but more research is needed to ensure that it would be suitable for Australian conditions.

The committee has also made recommendations which relate to the enforcement of child support payments, the collection of child support debts, and parenting disputes involving child support.

The child support program can never hope to make separation an easy experience for parents and their children. However, the recommendations in this report will assist parents to move past the difficulties of separation and make it easier to find fair and cooperative ways to raise their children after separation.

In closing, can I thank fellow committee members, particularly the deputy chair, the member for Newcastle, and other participants; I note that some are here in the chamber. I also thank the secretariat for the hard, long and dedicated work that they put into the research, collating the 12,000 submissions that we received, and for their assistance in compiling the final report.

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, this is the first opportunity I have had to say congratulations to you on your appointment to the Speaker's role.

In following on from the remarks made by the Chair of the Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs, as deputy chair of the committee, I would really like to put on record my thanks to the chair and indeed all committee members for their work throughout the child support program inquiry. I again especially want to acknowledge the support of the committee secretariat, who I note are present in the chamber today.

This was an inquiry that prioritized community engagement, which necessarily meant trialling a number of new initiatives like questionnaires and community statement sessions and a series of ongoing reporting-back mechanisms for the community. This inclusive approach was vital to the work of the committee, but I absolutely acknowledge the additional workload that it caused for the secretariat and I thank them for their willingness to embrace the community engagement strategy for this inquiry into the child support program.

I would also like to acknowledge and thank, as the chair noted, some 12,000 individuals and groups around Australia who contributed to this inquiry. In particular, I acknowledge the longstanding work of many advocacy groups, representing large numbers of proponents, and individuals who shared their personal stories and lived experience throughout the inquiry, providing the critical context necessary for this report.

As detailed by the chair, the child support program is one of Australia's largest and most complex administrative schemes, and throughout this inquiry the committee has identified a number of ways in which the program could be improved in both design and administration. While potential improvements have been found, it is important to put on record that the Child Support Scheme is largely operating as intended, with 93 per cent of all child support being transferred, as it should be, over the life of the scheme. So this is not a system that is broken, but it is in need of improvement, particularly for those separating parents who are unable to come to amicable resolutions about new family arrangements and are perhaps entrenched in a high degree of conflict.

With this in mind, the committee made some 25 recommendations for the government's consideration, a number of which I would like to bring to the attention of the House today. Importantly, the committee recommends that the Australian government recognise the importance of specialist response and support to separated families where family violence has been present, and recommends the establishment of a dedicated family violence response unit within the Department of Human Services. The unit would be responsible for ensuring that the safety and wellbeing of the child is always paramount and it would be tasked with providing a number of important functions, including    being a one-stop point of contact for all inquiries and support services; providing a means of intermediary communication between parties; and coordinating access to services across a range of government departments. This coordination would put a stop to victims of family violence having to relive their trauma each and every time they interact with different officers and departments. The need for a dedicated family violence response unit was highlighted by a number advocacy groups throughout this inquiry, and I thank the chair and all committee members for including this recommendation in the report. I strongly urge the minister and government to accept and implement this recommendation a matter of urgency.

I would also like to highlight recommendations 6 and 7, which recommend greater cooperation between the Australian Taxation Office and the Department of Human Services to address the issue of nonlodgement of tax returns and to ensure that the penalties applicable to the nonlodgement or late lodgement of tax returns are actually enforced for all clients of the child support program.

The current disparity between the number of child support program clients who fail to lodge tax returns and the number of such clients pursued by the ATO is alarming. The committee heard evidence throughout the inquiry that the continuous nonlodgement of tax returns was a tactic used by some parents to artificially lower their child support liability. To ensure the integrity of the program and correct assessment and payments, steps must be undertaken to eliminate this practice. Greater cooperation between the tax office and the department is essential to ensure that the financial needs of children are being adequately addressed.

The committee also recommends that the Australian government respond to the Australian Law Reform Commission Report 117, entitled Family violence and Commonwealth laws—improving legal frameworksas a matter of priority. The committee very much looks forward to seeing the next stage of the Department of Human Services' family violence strategy, and reiterates that the strategy should be developed in compliance with the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children 2010-2022 and the Second Action Plan 2013-2016—particularly around the use of integrated systems.

In addition, the committee has recommended that the government give serious consideration to conducting a trial of a limited child support guarantee. The committee believes that a limited targeted guarantee system could help protect vulnerable families in the child support program, overcoming some of the more shocking examples of financial hardship arising from unpaid child support, while also providing a much needed buffer between parents at a time of potential conflict. Most importantly, a guarantee aims to ensure that children are not negatively impacted if the payee parent does not pay on time or, indeed, fails to pay at all. Calls for a limited guarantee were consistently raised and supported by a number of groups and individuals giving evidence at our inquiry. I am very pleased to see that recommendation in this report.

In closing, I note the committee's universal agreement that it is, indeed, the best interest of the child that is paramount in any child support program. Distinguishing the rights of the child, and their best interest, is an essential but sometimes overlooked aspect following family separation. I urge the government to give this report and the recommendations the serious consideration that they deserve, remembering that the best interests of the child must be central to any reforms forthcoming.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The debate is adjourned. The resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.