STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS

Ms FRANCE (Dickson) (13:52): My child support is $10 per week, with 100% care. How can a parent declare zero income? A working professional, why is that allowed.

My ex owes me … $107,000, I have three neurodiverse kids and he regularly goes on overseas holidays. My children's father owes over $140,000 … and yet he is living on the waterfront, and has five years of outstanding tax returns. These are just a few emails from my electorate of Dickson.

These cases are why we are cracking down on the abuse of the child support system. Currently, there's $2 billion in unpaid child support in Australia, and 200 child support debts over $150,000. I know the vast majority of parents do the right thing, but for those who don't—we are coming for you.

Our new laws catch parents who understate their income, prosecute parents who don't lodge their tax returns to avoid child support assessments, withhold child support from wages in suitable circumstances and impose travel bans for parents with a large child support debt and a history of travel. We're closing a lot of loopholes in the system. Parents in my electorate, both mums and dads, have been calling for change, and we are doing something about it.