Child Support Reform

Question

Despite very welcome measures in the Budget to address weaponisation of child support, the reforms don't address a major concern that stakeholders, the Ombudsman, and Services Australia have all flagged - the link between Child Support, the Maintenance Action Test and the Family Tax Benefit. Does the Department have any data on: how many people end up with a Family Tax debt following a retrospective change in child support? - the total value of those debts? - the number of women eligible for child support who simply opt out rather than risk dealing with a violent ex partner? Has the Government done any modelling of the impacts of: - Decoupling Child Support from Family Tax Benefit? What were the costs? What were the potential savings for child support recipients? - Removing the presumption that Child Support has been paid and allowing Family Tax Benefit A debts to be waived (as recommended by the Ombudsman)? Are future reforms planned to address these issues? If so, what is the timeframe, or what additional information is needed to inform those reforms? The Budget allocation includes funding for ATO compliance (e.g failing to lodge a tax return, which has implications for child support assessments). Can parents or DSS request compliance action from the ATO? Will DSS liaise with the ATO regarding compliance priorities? How will decisions be made about which failures to prosecute?

Answer

Please see attached answer.

Documents

• Question with answer (PDF) (opens in a new tab)
• DSS SQ26-000339.pdf (opens in a new tab)