Ombudsman confirms sector child support concerns

Single Mother Families Australia (SMFA) applauded the findings in Weaponising Child Support: when the system fails families that not only has Services Australia failed to recognise or respond to the misuse of child support, but government systems have enabled financial abuse.

The report found Services Australia's actions were either unfair or unreasonable in addressing widespread manipulation and weaponisation of child support, which included former partners withholding payments and lying about their income.

SMFA CEO Terese Edwards said the report vindicated the concerns that have been raised on behalf of single mothers for many years.

“The report endorses our work exposing financial abuse in the child support scheme and its devastating consequences on the lives of too many mothers and children in Australia,” said Edwards.

The Ombudsman’s investigation found that Services Australia lacked policies, strategies and training to be able to proactively identify, monitor and respond to cases of financial abuse through child support.

“Former partners weaponise child support by deliberately not making payments or not lodging tax returns, lying to reduce their income, lying about care arrangements and being abusive or violent to stop the impacted parent from seeking help,” the report found.

Commonwealth Ombudsman Ian Anderson said the current legislation needed reform to address systemic problems and help Services Australia ensure children were not deprived of the financial support they need.

“Parents affected by financial abuse through child support keep telling us they feel abandoned and let down by Services Australia when they seek help for financial abuse in their child support cases,” he said.

Edwards said SMFA had worked hard to bring the child support issues to light.

SMFA launched the Fix Child Support campaign in October 2024 and contributed to the Swinburne University research that sought to show how financial abuse was perpetuated.

“As the Ombudsman’s report states, the scheme ‘is not helping to get the money owed to parents when their kids need it the most,’” said Edwards.

The Ombudsman made eight recommendations including:

• that Services Australia more effectively enforce payment of Child Support and comprehensively review its processes

• that the federal government introduce a Bill to amend the law to address limitations that impede Services Australia enforcement action

• better information sharing within Services Australia.

Edwards said the recommendations in the report address many of the concerns related to the enabling of financial abuse by the government agencies that administer child support.

These concerns include ex-partners exploitation of the system through income minimisation, non-lodgement of tax returns, and deliberate non-payment to incur debts for women and children.

Edwards said one of the key recommendations in the report was the removal of the current presumption at tax time that all child support has been paid.

“This unfair provision means Family Tax Benefit Part A is automatically reduced. It has also meant vexatious former partners can create debts for the mother and children.”

Edwards said while the move to ensure debts are waived or otherwise not accrued where child support has not been paid or has been underpaid, there was a better way forward.

“We believe a more effective and simpler solution to the problem of family tax debts would be to delink the child support and family payment systems so that child support does not reduce family payments at all,” she said.

“This would also help tackle extremely high rates of child poverty in single parent families.”

More than 1.1 million children in Australia are reliant on the federal child support program.

The Ombudsman’s investigation revealed that as of December 31, 2024, Services Australia owed more than $1.9 billion to child support recipients.

The Ombudsman’s investigation reviewed more than 270 complaints received by the Office, as well as academic research and information provided by Services Australia.

Services Australia has accepted all the report’s recommendations.