Rod Kemp (Victoria, Liberal Party, Minister for the Arts and Sport) Share this | Hansard source

I thank senators for their contributions. The Child Support Legislation Amendment (Reform of the Child Support Scheme—Initial Measures) Bill 2006 is a very important bill and a great deal of thought has gone into the preparation of it. A number of very interesting points were made by senators and the government will look very closely at what has been said in this chamber. A number of senators remarked on the high degree of cooperation and consultation which has occurred in the preparation of the bill. That is entirely appropriate. The government is a consultative one—it is a government which listens to people—so that does not surprise me.

I will conclude by summing up a number of matters which were raised during the second reading debate speeches. To recap: the bill will introduce a number of significant changes to the Child Support Scheme. It is the crucial initial stage in implementing the government’s overhaul of the Child Support Scheme which was announced in February of this year. More extensive and complex elements included in the new formula will be introduced in the second and third stages. These changes are a response to the ongoing community concern and concern by this government about child support issues.

Presently, the scheme affects 1.4 million parents and 1.1 million children who have experienced family separation. In response to concerns about custody arrangements, the then House of Representatives Standing Committee on Family and Community Affairs released its report Every picture tells a story in late 2003. Following that, a ministerial task force on child support was established to examine more closely the details involved, leading to its report In the best interests of children, which was presented to the government in mid-2005.

The task force’s report suggested that some elements of the present scheme are not aligned with community standards on shared parenting and the increased participation of women in the workforce. It suggested that the scheme is not an accurate reflection of the relationship between income and spending on children in ordinary families, nor is it well integrated with the income support family payments and family law systems. Under the bill, the minimum child support payment will be increased from the current amount, which is equal to $5 per week, to the amount that would have been in place if the old minimum had been indexed since its introduction in 1999. Linking the new minimum payment, currently equal to $6.15 per week, to indexation ensures that the value of the payment will not be eroded. The figure that sets the cap on a liable parent’s adjusted income to child support—