Australian fathers who have children overseas could soon be required to pay child support to mothers living abroad, under major Labor reforms targeting parents accused of avoiding their financial obligations.
Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek is set to introduce legislation to parliament on Thursday that aims to recoup billions of dollars in outstanding child support, improve safeguards for domestic violence survivors and close loopholes that can be exploited by former partners.
The proposed changes would allow parents based overseas to apply directly to Services Australia for child support payments from an Australian parent.
Where an application is approved, Services Australia would calculate the amount owed, collect the money and arrange for it to be sent to the overseas parent.
Labor has described the package as the most significant shake-up of Australia’s child support system in decades.
‘There is almost $2bn of unpaid child support in this country,’ Plibersek told News Corp.
‘There are almost 100,000 parents and carers in the child support system who have experienced or are at risk of experiencing family and domestic violence.
‘The child support system should never be able to be used to punish, harass and control ex-partners and deny children the support they deserve.’
Tanya Plibersek (pictured) said the proposed reforms would help recover billions of dollars in unpaid child support.
ABC’s Four Corners reported in 2024 that tens of thousands of Filipino children are believed to have been born to foreign fathers, including Australians and New Zealanders, with many of those fathers never taking part in their children’s lives.
The investigation examined a DNA-tracing initiative led by Australian lawyer Andrew MacLeod, which uses ancestry databases, family tree mapping and public records to identify and locate suspected fathers years after they left the Philippines.
The legislation targets parents who avoid their obligations by failing to lodge tax returns, understating their income or refusing to make payments.
Services Australia will also gain greater powers to withhold sensitive personal information, including employment details, from former partners where there are safety concerns.
The government says the changes will make it harder for abusive ex-partners to weaponise the child support system as a tool of control.
Finance Minister Katy Gallagher said the reforms would put the needs of families first.
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‘This legislation is about making sure that we design government services around the safety and needs of the people who use them.’
A key change will see more child support payments collected directly through employers via wage deductions, rather than relying on private arrangements that can be difficult to enforce.
Single parents will also find it easier to recover unpaid child support debts from July 2027, while parents who deliberately avoid payments by failing to lodge tax returns will face greater scrutiny.
Parents living overseas will be able to apply directly to Services Australia for child support (file)
The measures are part of a $186 million package announced in the federal budget.
Plibersek said too many parents were using loopholes in the system to avoid supporting their children, leaving families financially vulnerable.
‘Abuse of the child support system is an insidious form of family and domestic violence,’ she said.
‘While most parents do the right thing, when parents weaponise the system by deliberately not making payments, not lodging tax returns, or lying about their income or care arrangements, there are real and immediate impacts on children and parents.’
Until now, some single parents have been forced to choose between receiving family tax benefits and cutting ties with an abusive former partner.
Others have avoided seeking child support altogether out of fear that it could trigger further harassment.
‘Currently, our system allows all these things to happen,’ Plibersek said.
‘There are too many loopholes.
‘That will not be tolerated by this government. Government systems must never be allowed to become tools through which that abuse is perpetuated.’
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