Malcolm Roberts (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) | Hansard source

As a servant to the people of Queensland and Australia, I know that some constituents spend many, many years and many tens of thousands of dollars—well over $100,000—seeking custody through parenting orders from the Family Court. Yet, when they leave the court, the other party breaches those orders and withholds access to those precious children. That's shared care through shared costs for care, yet one party is forcing the other party to pay huge legal fees and child support costs while denying access. Worse, if the court orders fifty-fifty custody but one parent withholds access, that party can truthfully say they have 100 per cent custody, despite breaching court orders, and the child support system will force the other parent to pay more accordingly.

The child support system, as it stands, rewards parents financially for breaking court orders. Even worse, the child support system can deem a parent to pay more than their actual income because of the 'capacity to earn' clause. For example, if a parent on a fly-in fly-out contract with a mining site is earning $150,000 or more and that contract ends and he finds another job at a lower pay, he is deemed to be capable of earning $150,000, and child support payments are levied at a higher rate. That parent loses his access to his kids, loses huge amounts of money and, when forced to sell assets to pay for child support, spirals downward. That parent's mental health deteriorates. He finds it difficult to keep his job and, above all, he can't see his children because the other parent is breaching court orders with impunity. Restricting a parent's access to their children and forcing them to pay more than they can is abusive. It is a form of emotional violence that can lead to suicide, and it is the children who suffer more. For the sake of the parents and especially the children, we must fix this.

I just want to point out that it is not this alone that is hurting parents and especially children. It is the interaction and the confusion that requires children sometimes to become a weapon and, in so doing, a casualty. It is the children who get hurt.

In the family law system, there is a lack of consequences for people who tell lies and make false claims. They don't have to fess up. There's the interaction of state and federal laws; this is very confusing for people to wind themselves through. There is custody of the child and access to the child, of course. There are domestic violence claims which sometimes are false. There is the property settlement issue. There is abuse of the law. There is legal game playing. Then there is money-grabbing by lawyers and money-grabbing by some parents. And there is an emotional issue for everyone. There are long-term consequences and there are many more people affected than just the two parents and the children; there are grandparents and communities. So this is not a simple issue. We have raised it, and we thank the Senate for its support to speak about it today. It is an issue that must be tackled, starting with child custody, especially in the Family Court.

I want to give people an idea of just how deeply damaging this can be. I had a tour recently of the Australian Brotherhood of Fathers facilities, an entirely voluntary operation in Southport, Queensland, south of Brisbane. Leith Erikson himself, the founder, gave me the tour and gave a number of our staff a tour. Leith told us about the start of the Australian Brotherhood of Fathers, or its predecessor. He used to turn up at courts to help men and women, mothers and fathers, through the court procedure. He realised there was a big gap in the services provided to people and then started helping people in various aspects. He now has a building that has a call centre manned entirely by volunteers. What's more, it is manned by people who have been through the process, so they understand. These are not consultants, these are not telemarketers and these are not call centre people; these are people who have been through the mill of the destructive family law court system and child custody services system. Leith has people there manning the phones for people to call in and get advice on how to approach situations.

The Australian Brotherhood of Fathers—which also helps mothers; it's gender neutral—also has a facility for supervised child contact. That means that people who have to have supervised contact can get access to these very safe facilities at a much lower cost than is standard. That's yet another cost that some parents have to fork out: paying for someone to watch them having an interaction with their own kids. There are facilities for older people. There are counsellors who are given space in that centre for counselling. There are other facilities there that complete the gamut. There are legal services there that enable people to access lawyers at a fair rate, knowing that those lawyers are going to be on their side and not just in it for the money.

This is a very, very complex thing. Lives have been ruined by this. I'm so pleased to see that the Senate can see this and support this matter of urgency today. Acting Deputy President, I have no more to say other than thank you. Our thoughts go to all mothers, fathers and grandparents who are going through this very difficult time.