QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

Senator GALLAGHER (Australian Capital Territory—Minister for Finance, Minister for the Public Service, Minister for Women, Minister for Government Services and Manager of Government Business in the Senate) (14:38): I thank Senator Brown for the supplementary question. As Senator Brown alluded to, system abuse is one of the most consistent themes coming out of the consultations, where perpetrators weaponised courts, child support, Centrelink and other services to continue coercive control after separation.

The tactics are financial—debt delay, non-payment, vexatious applications—and children are caught in the middle, going without the support that they are entitled to. We know that almost $2 billion exists in unpaid child support across Australia, and almost 100,000 parents and carers in the child support system have experienced or are at risk of family and domestic violence.

That's why in this budget we have increased investment to make sure that we can do the reforms to the child support systems—the biggest reforms in 20 years—to reduce the systemic weaponisation of the child support system. The PRESIDENT: Senator Brown, a second supplementary?