Executive summary
National Legal Aid welcomes this opportunity to provide a submission to the Australian National Audit Office’s audit of the effectiveness of Services Australia’s use of its enforcement powers for child support debt.
Legal Aids have extensive expertise and oversight in child support payments, due to our role in providing specialist child support advice and representation.
Each year Legal Aids provide approximately 3,000 legal advice services and 400 grants of legal aid/representation for child support matters.
Legal Aids support clients with advice and representation to navigate a child support system that lacks oversight, transparency and accountability in the enforcement of child support payments.
There is a lack of accountability from Services Australia in implementing the Child Support Scheme and utilising legislative and government powers. This exists across all areas of the Child Support Scheme from individuals understanding entitlements to enforcement of payments. There are major flow-on effects including weaponisation of child support payments and non-compliance of large amounts owing by overseas payers.
Summary of Recommendations
Recommendation 1
NLA recommends that Services Australia Child Support Agency uses its suite of existing legislative powers to enforce child support payments.
Recommendation 2
NLA recommends that to improve accountability and transparency of Child Support, that Services Australia:
a. publish data that provides adequate detail for enforcement of payments, and
b. regularly report data about unpaid debt and its debt collection activities.
Recommendation 3
Services Australia’s engagement with all stakeholders in child support payments requires widescale change, with clear and transparent guidelines and accountability on enforcement.
