Prasad Rajen: Child Support Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Prasad Rajen: Child Support Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 08 May 2012. Volume:679;Page:2035. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Dr RAJEN PRASAD (Labour) 
: 
 Namaste Mr Speaker and thank you very much for that acknowledgement. 
Just before I get into the content of my speech there is something that the Minister of Revenue said in introducing this bill the Child Support Amendment Bill that I wanted to comment on. I do agree with him when he says that the child support system is a separate system from childcare access issues and other parenting issues. He is absolutely right and those issues when contest arises are dealt with in the Family Court. However there is a linkage. I have seen many cases where conflicts arise between parents who have separated that are linked to their child support arrangements. The child support arrangements themselves because they have not been responsive to their contemporary situation have caused a lot of conflict. That affects their parenting. That affects access. That affects the whole relationship. And that surely must have a negative impact on the development of children themselves and the life and happiness of a family. So there is a linkage between the child support system and how families live and the stress that families can experience from time to time.  
The converse therefore is true: a well-crafted child support system which is operating well does obviate all of those kinds of negative influences. What impacts on children growing up what impacts on families being together and what impacts on sole parents looking after their children or single parents is that all of the factors that impact on their needs so to speak are integrated. And when they are the outcomes for those children are much more positive. In that sense the child support system is an integral part of the life of single parents or parents who are separated where there is a dispute.  
I am disappointed of course that the Greens have indicated that they might not support this bill because it does not go back to first principles. In a sense I would ask whether this is the bill where we ought to go back to first principles about the interests of children. Children are always the centre of everything we do in this House in a sense but this bill is only one part of that and that part needs fixing and therefore perhaps in the select committee as we go through that process we will have the opportunity to consider what the parts are that need fixing.  
It is a sad fact that contemporary life for many parents and many families as such means that for various reasons they are unable to be together. That is just the way it is. It is far too regular and it is regular enough for the State to be intervening through programmes and policies of this nature that actually begin to make it at least workable. But there are many cases in which parents—and this would be the majority of cases—work it out for themselves. As our research at the Families Commission showed when they do the arrangements work quite well and they are much more generous in terms of time joint parenting joint care of children etc. They are able to fulfil their obligations to their children and to their families and continue to love them and live with them and really be good parents so to speak.  
But sadly this is not always possible and when it is not possible conflicts arise and this bill begins to address the situations in which those conflicts arise. The contemporary set-up is quite different. Today we have reconstituted families we have dual career families and families with different patterns of parenting. What this bill does is begin to design or redesign the child support system to address that. I know that under the old system some parents watched bed nights because that would affect the way in which money would transfer from one to the other.  
Labour supports this bill quite strongly. I encourage the many many fathers who have come to us come to my office spoken to us saying “We are often marginalised. We often do not participate in the lives of our children.” to have their say. Here is an opportunity for those fathers to turn up to the select committee to have their say so that whatever needs to be done to resolve those problems will be done. So I look forward to the discussions in the select committee. I look forward to the submissions and perhaps returning with a better bill.