Kara Cook (Bonner, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Last night, Labor announced we are investing almost $183 million to make the child support system safer and fairer. There is currently $2 billion in unpaid child support debt in Australia, and women make up around 83 per cent of recipient parents. These historic reforms will help prevent the weaponisation of child support and protect parents and children from financial abuse.

These are the most significant changes to the child support system in nearly 20 years. They include $3.6 million to ensure that when Services Australia identify systems abuse they have the power to stop it. From 1 July next year, the Child Support Registrar will be able to refuse applications made for the purposes of harassing the other parent. There's also $6.1 million from July this year to support the ATO to prosecute parents who repeatedly fail to submit their tax returns, and there's $12.4 million to improve income data checking so that income changes can be flagged. About half of the 70,000 income estimates each year are incorrect.

There is more to come. Labor is making the child support system safer and more effective, delivering accountability and justice for those who need it most.

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