Australia's social services minister Tanya Plibersek and finance minister Katy Gallagher have announced plans to close gaps that have allowed family and domestic violence perpetrators to continue causing harm through the child support system. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing The Guardian.
What the new rules will change
The new rules will scrap legal requirements that any information provided by one parent be shared with the other parent, stopping situations where sharing that information could put children or a parent at risk.
Families will also be supported to recover more unpaid child support debts when they move into official arrangements, and new rules will be created to remove the harm that can arise from family tax benefit debts caused by child support payers against their former partners.
Joint statement from the ministers
In a joint statement, the social services minister and the finance minister said:
"There is almost $2 billion of unpaid child support in this country.
There are almost 100,000 parents and carers in the child support system who have experienced or are at risk of experiencing family and domestic violence. Australian children deserve better.
This is the first stage of the most significant reforms to child support in decades, helping create a system that is safer, simpler and more effective for Australian families."
Aim of the reforms
The new measures are aimed at making the child support system safer for victims of family and domestic violence. By scrapping legal requirements, the sharing of information that could put parents and children at risk will be stopped.
Families will also be helped to recover unpaid child support debts, and harm from family tax benefit debts caused by child support payers will be removed.
These reforms are described as the first stage of the most significant changes to Australia's child support system in decades.