Child Support - Prohibition Orders

Question

Senator NAMPIJINPA PRICE: What policy and legislative levers currently exist to manage debt? I understand, for example, that department prohibition orders can be put in place if a person has debt and that stops them from being able to leave the country. What other arrangements exist at the moment to manage debts from non-paying parents? Ms Power: There is a range of different debt collection mechanisms that Services Australia has available to them. As you mentioned, departure prohibition orders is one of those. Employer withholding arrangements can also be used to garnish payments directly from people's wages in appropriate circumstances. Services Australia can also garnish payments directly from people's bank accounts in some instances, and also has the ability to undertake prosecution activity. There may be other items. We can take that on notice to provide more detail, if that's helpful. Senator NAMPIJINPA PRICE: Yes, thank you. Mr Lye: A couple of those mechanisms were the subject of budget measures this year. For departure prohibition orders, for example, there were changes there. Senator NAMPIJINPA PRICE: If you could take that on notice and highlight what changes apply due to budget measures, I'd appreciate that.

Answer

Please see attached answer.

Documents

• Question with answer (PDF) (opens in a new tab)
• DSS SQ26-000702.pdf (opens in a new tab)