Tammy Tyrrell (Tasmania, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

My question is for the Minister representing the Minister for Social Services, Senator Farrell. Giving birth to twins in Australia is incorrectly and unfairly classified as a single birth. This misclassification is causing Tasmanian and mainland families to struggle financially. When I wrote to Minister Rishworth in the previous parliament, last year, I was informed that the government would not treat those that have twins as having had multiple births, because they think it's more important to fund those with higher order multiples—that is, triplets or more. God help any family! I reached out to the Australian Multiple Birth Association, who told me that those families that have twins face a cost burden of five times a single birth, so why does the government continue to exclude families with twins from recognition under the multiple birth allowance and other financial supports?