Rod Kemp (Victoria, Liberal Party, Minister for the Arts and Sport) Share this | Hansard source

I think you are stretching the friendship here, Senator Evans. To agree with three amendments of the Greens has been a huge effort, but Senator Siewert so often argues a very persuasive case. We listened carefully and decided we could agree with the first series of amendments but, Senator Siewert, it will not come as a shock to you to indicate that we will not be agreeing with amendment (2).

I would like to make a couple of points. The new formula does not come into effect until 2008 and, from the government’s point of view, it is meaningless to consider the implications while there is still an extended period of time for parents to change their arrangements as they come to understand the new scheme and especially since, during that time, more than 700,000 cases will be individually reviewed by the Child Support Agency. The data, I should also point out, is not available until the Child Support Agency does that review.

Other avenues from the government’s point of view are more appropriate to examine the effects of the reforms in combination with other government policy. Let me list a number of them: the ongoing work of the performance monitoring and research working group, which reports to the steering committee overseeing the child support reforms; modelling of the child support reforms and other government policy as proposed by Professor Patrick Parkinson, chair of the ministerial task force—the government is committed to ongoing monitoring of the effects of the scheme as recommended in the task force report; and research and evaluation already scheduled to be carried out over the next three years. That is quite an impressive list. It includes the establishment of a baseline dataset; research into labour force participation of parents—that is, payers and payees; research into the cost of child care; survey of community attitudes; survey of client satisfaction with the Child Support Agency; investigation of the reforms on the compliance with child support liabilities; and, finally, collaborative work on mental health, parenting patterns, family relationship services and changes to overall financial support, including the Welfare to Work changes.

Senator Carol Brown made a number of observations in her remarks. I have got some advice, which may provide comfort to Senator Brown, that ongoing consultation will happen through the child support national stakeholder engagement group. Members include the relevant government agencies, advocacy groups, customer representatives, research organisations, review bodies and service providers, including ACOSS, the Australian Institute of Family Studies and the Commonwealth Ombudsman. The first meeting is on 13 November.

We all accept these are significant reforms. We understand the concerns that you put forward, Senator Siewert. I hope you feel that the responses the government have made are adequate. We are equally keen to make sure that there is ongoing consultation to monitor the effects of these changes, but we will not be accepting the amendment that you have proposed. However, as I have said, there is a great deal of ongoing work which will be done and I think that should give some comfort to senators.

In a former manifestation I was the minister responsible for the Child Support Agency, when it was attached to the tax office, and I am well aware of the challenging nature of that particular area of the portfolio, the difficulties that are involved and the balancing of decisions that governments have to do, and I congratulate the minister involved on bringing these reforms so far. It has been a mighty effort. I know that a lot of work has been done with other senators, and a lot of people have made significant contributions. Senator Siewert, we have listened carefully to you, as we always do, but we will not be accepting this particular amendment.