Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697632892551.pdf (Australia)
Subject: Date: Support, Care, Impact and Starting Again Thursday, 14 August 2014 8:36:43 PM To the Honourable Kevin Andrews MP and Those Who It May Concern, Good day, As an Australian citizen, a wife, a mother and a witness to the impact of the current Child Support System on myself, my family, my community and my country, I wish to submit my humble opinions for your consideration.
It is not my wish to air personal grievances, and I am well aware that it is the intention of the current Parliamentary Inquiry to seek the whole truth.

It is for this purpose and to this outcome alone that I have penned this letter, in hopes that even if my suggestions are not unique they may add weight to the suggestions of others considering these options.
Firstly, I applaud the Australian government for putting legislation in place for the purpose of supporting and caring for our nation's precious children.

Secondly I applaud the current government for their courage to investigate and hopefully make the necessary changes that this system needs.

I do not have a qualification that adds merit to my words, I am offering these suggestions purely from my understanding and observations of the current system and the little common sense I may possess.
My aim is in all cases to protect the child(ren) involved.

They are the ones who suffer the most during or because of a relationship breakdown; be it because of lack of provision by financial care, unbalanced parenting arrangements (or lack of arrangements), exposure to abuse and even being used as leverage to make one parent give in to the other's demands.

It is especially this last form of abuse that I wish to see reduced.
More than anything else, I have witnessed parents using their child(ren) for revenge on a previous partner, financially, emotionally, and mentally.

Parents who believe a child does not need the input of the other parent's life experience and wisdom in the child's life, simply based on their prejudices and not on the merits of known and reported abuse conducted by the other parent or that parent's new partner, are they themselves an abuser of their children.
It is right that children have access to both parents if at all possible.

And children have a right to know both parents for who they are and what they believe, not simply as a name on their birth certificate.

No parent should have the right or means to exclude the other parent from having practical influence and participation in the upbringing of their child(ren) simply on the basis of personal preference.
Should a Mother/Father or Carer believe the child(ren) is being exposed to domestic violence in the care of their former partner/other carer, there are systems established to rescue the child(ren) from these influences and they should be used.

Above all, both parents should take full responsibility for their children - financially, physically, emotionally and mentally.

If a parent cannot care for the child as often as the other, they should provide financially.
If a parent is able to care for the child physically (provide accommodation, oversee day to day needs, schooling, medical care, etc) they should do so.

To not provide for the least among us, namely those we are responsible for bringing into this world, is in my opinion the greatest offence one can commit against one's family, community, nation and the human race.

It is not the government's responsibility to care for our children, it is the responsibility of the parents.
And the government should make sure the parents are held responsible accordingly.

Therefore, in the area of adjustments to the current system I submit the following suggestions.

I have categorised them according to stages; firstly of separation, ongoing care and then breaches of these arrangements.

- Separation Arrangements - Firstly, divorces should not be finalised by a Court unless a parenting agreement and child support arrangement is present in writing and is signed by all parties.
This must be included in the application or proceedings of the divorce.

This is to ensure that the child(ren) is cared for in the course of the divorce, not just the husband and wife.

Children are part of the family and deserve to be protected.

No marriage in which children are born should be annulled until arrangements for the children of this relationship are made and agreed upon in writing Parliamentary Inquiry into the Child Support ProgramSubmission 117 by all parties.
This agreement should then be assessed and passed during the process of the divorce so that it can be legally upheld in the future.

This parenting agreement and child support arrangement can be made between the parents and other carers of the child(ren) themselves, or through privet/community mediation sessions.

Parents, or a parent, can seek to have these arrangements made as soon as the relationship of which children have been born of fails.
Should parents fail to come to an agreement regarding child support payments and parenting plan after three mediation sessions (through a registered mediation provider), a certificate is to be issued allowing a joint or single parent application to Court to have a Judge decide the outcome of both these arrangements.
Attempts can be initiated by one or both parties, and attendance by only one party still constitutes as an attempt - otherwise the other party will withhold attendance for the purpose of delaying arrangements for the child(ren)'s care and even to withhold access to children or financial assistance to the other party.
Should a single parent be forced to apply to Court to have a parenting plan and child support arrangement established due to the other parent's failure to attend mediation for this purpose, the Court awards the parent who initiated the hearing 50% or more of the fees associated with the proceedings (this would not include personal lawyer fees unless deemed necessary at the time by the Judge/Referee), to be paid to them by the parent who failed to make arrangements for the child(ren)'s care outside of Court.
This would motivate parents to make arrangements without taking up valuable Justice resources, and encourage less corporative/responsible parents to reconsider their parenting obligations for the child they have had.

Child support should only be able to be arranged with or after a parenting agreement is made and signed by all parties.
This is to prevent one parent or carer withholding child(ren) for the purpose of receiving the most financial benefit from a partner at the expense of the child(ren) having a balanced relationship with both parents.
Should a Domestic Violence Order be held by one parent against the other parent or the other parent's current partner/associates, an application for a Court order may be sort to attest the suitability of parenting by such party associated with a violent history without first negotiating through community/privet mediation facility.

Again, the Court would award the parent who needed to initiate the hearing 50% or greater of the fees to be paid by the other party.
This ensures responsibility of both parents for their children's care.

Family Tax Benefits should be allocated to the financial contributor to the child(ren)'s welfare, not simply the parent with the child(ren).

This Tax Benefit was designed as a tax break to assist those who are employed by the work force with the financial care of their child(ren).
When parents separate, the parent earning the income is often the one with less care of the child(ren) and thus the higher financial contributor - under the current system they then loose their Tax Benefit intended to assist them with financially providing for their child(ren) and are also required to pay child support to the parent caring most often for the child(ren).
This becomes a form of 'double dipping' by the parent with the child(ren), and causes immense financial struggle for the parent earning an income.

I simply suggest that the Tax Benefit be awarded to the parent earning the income and is only to be paid if the Child Support is paid to the parent with less financial care of the child(ren).

Should the parent paying child support fail to do so, FTB would cease until monies are made up to the parent they are owed.
Should both parents be income earners and their combined earnings still merit Family Tax Benefit payments, Benefit should be split according to income earned.

e.g.

parent earning greater income receives greater Benefit because they are making the greater financial contribution to child(ren), wether the child(ren) be in their care primarily or they are paying child support to other parent.
Child support should be assessed on income after tax - because these are funds that the income earning parent has to live from.

Not assessed before Tax and then paid from monies left after Tax.

Children of a current relationship are neglected under the current system in favour of the child from a previous relationship, simply because the monies allocated to their care are taken from their parents' income after tax, not before.
Last financial tax return should indicate monies received after tax - from this a child support arrangement should be made.

If either parent changes jobs, first three payslips should be submitted to asses child support payment amounts - this assessment should be adjusted at each end of financial year.

If monies are owed due to payslips being submitted at start of employment showing less than average income after tax amount, back pay is required.
Failure to do so or establish reasonable pay back program within two weeks should result in monies Parliamentary Inquiry into the Child Support ProgramSubmission 117 owed being listed on the payee's credit rating.
Child support should also be assessed on hours a child(ren) is in a parent's care - no parent should be providing meals, education and medical care for a child(ren) to then send said child(ren) to the other parent because that's where the child(ren) currently sleeps and still be required to pay a portion of child support that is not required for provision of child's day to day needs in the other parent's care.

Yet this does happen.


Thus, child support should be assessed on hours child is in the care of the parent - not night's at their house.

- Ongoing Care - The process for renegotiation of care for the child(ren) must be allowed for in the parenting agreement every two years (or more as deemed appropriate by the Court).

Mediation can be undertaken by both parties for this.

If no changes are deemed necessary, the previous arrangement can be signed by all parties and resubmitted to Court for finalisation.
If no agreement can be reached, a joint or single application to Court can be made for the purpose of making new arrangements.

Should a parent wish to make changes to the agreement before the next assessment period, they can initiate mediation with the other parent.

If three attempts are made and the other parent fails to negotiate, they may apply for the Court to intervene.
Should their proposed changes be deemed reasonable in the eyes of the Court, the other party may be made to pay 50% or greater of the fees associated with the hearing.

Should the parent applying for the hearing suggest changes to the current arrangement that the Court does not find reasonable to uphold, they are responsible for 100% of the fees involved in the hearing.
Parents that attempt to cause disruption to the child(ren)'s care arrangements based on personal preferences and not the child's best interests should be made to take full responsibility for their actions, and the other party should not be made to financially contribute for the inconvenience caused by the other party.
Should a parent be forced to apply for a hearing because the failure of the other parent to uphold their part in the parenting agreement, child support arrangement or cause consistent disruption to the care of the child(ren), the Court can award the applying parent 100% of the fees associated with the process to be paid by the parent who has made the breach in the agreement.

This is to enforce the responsibility of all parties to do the right thing by the child(ren) involved.
Seeking reimbursement for having to apply to Court for disruptions to child(ren)'s care to be resolved should not require a second hearing, but rather should be part of the hearing as a whole.

- Breaches of the Arrangements - Child support owing after a period of two weeks should be noted on the payee's credit rating as monies owed.

This parent may also be subject to Court order to pay and even jail time for failure to do so.
If a parent fails to allow the other parent access to the children according to the established parenting plan, child support payments are to cease until joint care is established.

And any monies paid beyond time access to child(ren) was denied is to be reimbursed by parent receiving those funds.
However, if a parent who is the primary financial provider for the child(ren) of that relationships decides to continue to provide financial care for their child(ren) even when the other parent fails to uphold their side of the parenting plan/agreement, they establish a record of monies owed by the other party as well as a kidnapping offence.
Subsequently, the parent withholding the child receives the bad credit rating and opens themselves up to Court orders to repay monies owing, and even jail time on failure to re-pay.

This should provide motivation by both parties to uphold agreement for child support and parenting care.

At no time should the CSA be allowed to pass personal details of one parent to the other.

I have been shocked by what I have heard parents being told of their previous partner's current arrangements.
I'm aware that my views, suggestions and opinions are based on observation and experience alone and not on ongoing or in depth studies.

But I hope that some of these suggestions will be of value to those considering the structure of the Child Support service in Australia.

Thank you for your consideration of these suggestions, Kind regards, Parliamentary Inquiry into the Child Support ProgramSubmission 117