Dunne Peter: Child Support Amendment Bill (No 4) — Third Reading 
Dunne Peter: Child Support Amendment Bill (No 4) — Third Reading 
[Volume:634;Page:5381] 
Hon PETER DUNNE (Minister of Revenue) 
: 
 I move  
That the Child Support Amendment Bill (No 4) be now read a third time 
. The main feature of this bill is its aim to get back into the system those parents who have stopped paying their child support. That is its most controversial feature and I will comment on that in some detail. 
At the moment we have about $1.1 billion in outstanding child support liability and $651 million of that sum is penalties that have been imposed on outstanding principal of around $450 million. The problem is that in many cases liable parents simply stop meeting their obligations because the penalties have become too great. The consequence of that is that no child support is payable and the children who should be benefiting from it suffer. So what this bill says in effect is that where parents seek to reactivate those outstanding payments there will be a provision for a write-off of certain of the debt obligations. The logic here is that it is far better to get those parents to pay something towards the welfare upbringing and upkeep of their children than the current arrangement where many are paying nothing. That was the major point of difference between the various parties as this bill progressed. 
But I want to make this point clear. None of the $651 million in outstanding interest and penalty payments will go to the children. That is revenue to the Crown if it is ever collected. The logic here is that it is far better to get the lion’s share of the $450 million that is outstanding child support going to the parents and the children rather than concentrating on the $651 million that will never be collected and will never go to the children anyway. 
That is the major change that this bill introduces. It is a significant step forward. It will mean a reduction in the level of outstanding child support as those penalties are written off. It will not be quite as generous as some have advocated for—that we are about to cut the debt in half. But the Inland Revenue Department will be monitoring these new arrangements and any that are entered into under this bill to ensure that the parents who commit to those arrangements meet their obligations and stay on track. The powers in this bill will not be exercised lightly. 
But I come back again to the point. At the moment the one group that suffers from the build-up of debt and the fact that people simply opt out of trying to meet their obligations is the children. Whatever one’s view of the dynamics of family break-up it is vital that the kids are the ones who get the recompense and the benefit and that is what this legislation seeks to achieve. 
The bill also contains some other measures relating to the overall stability of the child support system. It strengthens the Inland Revenue Department’s ability to investigate liable parents who deliberately structure their financial affairs to avoid paying the proper amount of child support and to get exemptions from the child support system. That has been a bone of contention for a long time. There is a sense of great injustice on the part of custodial parents that liable parents are structuring their affairs in such a way as to avoid their obligations. This bill gives the Inland Revenue Department greater authority and greater power in terms of investigating those situations so that those parents can be brought to book and ensure that their liabilities are met. 
I mentioned that the bill contains a couple of new exemptions. The first is a temporary one for young parents for whom it is still compulsory to be at school. It is clearly impractical to impose child support liabilities and responsibilities on children who are still at school and not in a position to be earning. The second exemption is a far more serious important and permanent one. It is for the victims of sexual offences when a child has been born as a result of a sexual crime. Again in those circumstances the imposition of a child support liability has been unjust and this matter will now be resolved by those provisions. 
The remaining measures in the bill are largely administrative in nature. They include new appeal rights following an administrative review and giving priority to payments owed to custodians over payments owed to the Crown. That will be a particularly important step forward also. 
 This bill was introduced some months ago. It has been considered carefully by the Social Services Committee and I pay tribute to the members of that committee for their consideration and for the amendments that they brought forward to further improve the bill as a result of their hearings. I also thank my officials in the Inland Revenue Department the draftspeople and those who have worked on the detail of this legislation and the members of the public and the various family specialists who took the time to make submissions to the select committee and to lobby individual members of the committee on this matter. 
Child support is a vexed and contentious issue and will remain so almost permanently. There will be refinements and changes over the years but the fundamental point will never be able to be escaped from: when parents become parents they accept—in the case of child support legislation until the child turns 19—ongoing responsibilities. Whatever the subsequent status of their relationship they must meet those responsibilities and they must honour their continuing obligations to their children. This bill is a practical step forward in terms of enabling the money to flow to the children who will benefit. Where parents do get behind with their payments the bill gives them the capacity to enter into repayment regimes which means they do not end up simply defaulting altogether. 
Finally I thank the members of the House who have contributed to the debate at various stages. I know that it has been a fraught debate but it has also been a useful one and I acknowledge the contributions made from all sides. I commend this bill to the House.