Child support - Departure Prohibition Orders (DPOs)

Question

Senator RUSTON: Fair enough. How many outstanding debts have you modelled could be collected under this measure? Ms Power: 3,000 by mid-2028. Senator RUSTON: So you're assuming that every one of your DPOs has got a result in a debt collection. Ms Power: Oh, it was how many debts could be collected-my apologies. I don't have that information at hand. Senator RUSTON: It would be great to get that. You've modelled an $18.4 million measure, so I would be interested in what you think is the measurement metric against that. Obviously, the purpose of this is debt collection, not stopping somebody having an overseas holiday, so what is the outcome metric that you are seeking to achieve by this? Ms Power: Absolutely. I don't have that information at hand, but of interest is that, in 2024-25, Services Australia, as I mentioned, issued 968 new DPOs, and they collected $32.2 million in child support payments where a DPO was in force.

Answer

Please see attached answer.

Documents

• Question with answer (PDF) (opens in a new tab)
• DSS SQ26-000711.pdf (opens in a new tab)