Litigation nets $5m in unpaid support from deadbeat dads

Patricia Karvelas, Political correspondent | January 03, 2009

ALMOST 900 parents, mostly fathers, who refused to pay child support have complied in the past 18 months after being threatened with litigation or taken to court by the federal Government.

More than $20 million in outstanding payments has been collected in 880 cases through the legal system since mid-2007, as the federal Government steps up moves to take deadbeat dads to court to force them to pay child support.

Litigation by the Child Support Agency has led to $5million in overdue payments for children this financial year alone.

Since July 1 last year, the CSA has targeted 249 cases, resulting in the collection of millions of dollars in outstanding child support.

This amount was in addition to the $15.3 million collected from 631 litigation matters in 2007-08.

This is a large increase on 2006-07, when $12.8 million in outstanding payments was collected from 479 cases.

Human Services Minister Joe Ludwig described the payments as an excellent result for children.

"While most parents do the right thing, the CSA will take Australia's worst child support evaders to court and make sure they take responsibility for the support of their children," hesaid.

Despite the Government action, child support debt has continued to grow.

It has increased by $50 million in each of the past two years -- an average annual rate of 5.6 per cent.

Total child support debt has just reached $1 billion and about one-fifth, $231 million, relates to overseas debt.

Senator Ludwig said the Rudd Government was taking a tough stand on parents who did the wrong thing by their children.

"I encourage all separated parents who have fallen behind on their child support payments to contact the CSA and negotiate an appropriate payment arrangement," he said.

Senator Ludwig said litigation was a valuable means of ensuring that people with a child support debt did not escape their obligations.

"It's certainly a tough approach, but in some cases this is the only way to get the paying parent to face up to their responsibilities," he said.

Senator Ludwig said that most cases did not reach court, as most parents paid their outstanding child support before facing the Federal Magistrates Court or Family Court.

The CSA and the Australian Government Solicitor work together to identify cases where parents will reach a pre-court settlement, so the debt is paid and legal costs are avoided.

About 40 per cent of separated fathers pay just $5 a week in child support.

And about 105,000 are suspected of using self-employment and cash transactions to understate their real incomes, so as to avoid paying the appropriate amount of child support.

The Howard government, with the support of Labor, changed the child support system to allow divorced fathers who see their children only on a weekly basis to have their support payments cut.