Way forward:
A spotlight for our children
One in six Australian children live in poverty.
Academic research has found poverty in single mother families could be reduced by 21% if child support was paid on time and in full.
Key policy changes
Delink family payments from child support by eliminating the Maintenance Income Test.
Delink family payments from child support by eliminating the Maintenance Income Test.
The separation of child support from family payments simplifies administrative work and system complexity, enhances system safety, and improves the certainty of social security.
Co-design family violence processes within the child support system to recognise the high rates of violence experienced by system users.
Co-design family violence processes within the child support system to recognise the high rates of violence experienced by system users.
The positioning of family violence as the norm rather than the exception within the system would ensure that perpetrators are not re...
Move all child support collections back into the Australian Tax Office.
Move all child support collections back into the Australian Tax Office.
The ATO is best positioned to collect child support payments, address the $1.7 billion child support debt for Agency Collect alone, close assessment loopholes, and uphold the expectations of timely...
Make all payment debts owed to and enforced by the Commonwealth.
Make all payment debts owed to and enforced by the Commonwealth.
The principle of the Commonwealth paying women first and pursuing non-compliance second is a superior policy approach and one that would create certainty of payments, reduce administrative burdens and ena...
Presenting Our Report in Parliament House
On Tuesday, 8 October 2024, we presented our groundbreaking report to Parliament House, outlining critical reforms needed for the child support system. Supported by prominent advocates such as Rosie Batty, Jess Hill, Terese Edwards and Professor Kay Cook, we highlighted the urgent need for action to prevent financial abuse and ensure a fairer, safer system for families.
The Fix Child Support website and campaign exist to further support the report, shining a light on the systemic issues that perpetuate financial abuse within the current child support system. Together, they aim to drive meaningful reform and ensure families receive the financial support they deserve.
We are calling on Parliament to prioritise this issue in the 2025 Federal Budget. Our report, built on robust research and expert insights, is a key step towards fixing child support to better protect Australia’s most vulnerable.
Key statistics
GOVERNMENT DATA
$1.7 BILLION
54%
MORE THAN
28%
of payers are failing to lodge a tax return on time, reducing the accuracy of assessments.3
84%
2024 SWINBURNE STUDY
Grade F
Participants gave the Child Support System a Grade F in critical areas such as exemptions, collections, debt collection, and compliance.
4 in 5
Single mothers were experiencing some form of violence at the time of separation.
exemption awareness
ONLY 1 in 10
women applied for an exemption from seeking child support on the grounds that it would exacerbate the abuse. Many were unaware that failure to apply for child support or seek an exemption would result in the loss of around 70% of their family payments, further deepening the poverty experienced by their children.
family payment debt
2 in 5
survey respondents had incurred a family payment debt to Services Australia at some point, and 1 in 2 of these said the debt was due to a retrospective child support change. The average debt owed to Services Australia was just under $3,500, which was being automatically deducted from their family payments. At the same time, these women were owed an average of $12,000 in unpaid child support from their former partners.
1 Department of Social Services, submission to the Senate Poverty Inquiry, February 2023.
2 Department of Social Services, Child Support Program Information, December 2023; Services Australia, October 2023.
3 Department of Social Services, Child Support Program Data, June 2024
4 DSS, Child Support Program Information, December 2023
Experiences of victim-survivors
I have an enormous Centrelink debt. I was separated due to domestic violence. How am I supposed to know the other person's income? I am now paying back a full year of Family Tax Payments because I was not eligible for that money, but completely unaware that I was not eligible. I had given them all the information that I had.
The Government's generational refusal to take notice of, address or even acknowledge the inadequacies and failings of 'an' Australian Financial Support System, existing purely to support Australian children, is not only incomprehensible; it borders on national and global criminality.
My ex controlled my spending during our relationship, monitoring my bank account. Post-separation, despite his business turning over $500K p/a, he puts $70K on paper. Child Support have reassessed him to earn $200K after tax but tell me it’s ‘academic’—there’s no real enforcement. Whenever I ask about options in Facebook groups, I'm met with similar stories and wild debts, seemingly all paying parents who run their own business.
The CSA processes are a federally endorsed system of financial abuse that impacts thousands of women bearing the responsibility of raising children. In this economy, it’s crippling for the paying parent to have so many opportunities to swindle the system and avoid paying for his kids. - Annelise
We are so grateful to have the support of Rosie Batty, Jess Hill and Professor Kay Cook in advocating for urgent changes.
Violence relies on coercive behaviour, the use of systems, and threats to establish and maintain control. It’s crucial for systems that women interact with actively work against perpetuating this kind of behaviour and focus on eliminating the threat or fear of violence, including economic abuse and financial control. One system that could be readily reformed for women and children is the child support system.
Rosie Batty
Domestic violence campaigner
Ever since I started this work a decade ago, I’ve been haunted by a question victim-survivors so often ask: ‘Why is he allowed to do this?’ The government knows that perpetrators are weaponising its systems, and that these systems – including child support – are being used to perpetuate coercive control post-separation and to inflict financial harm and deprivation on women and children. The federal government has committed to ending gendered violence within a single generation. It can decide to end the weaponisation and abuse of the child support system today.
Jess Hill
Domestic violence campaigner
Australia has a sad history of tolerating poverty and gendered violence in single mother families. We must do better and allow single mothers and their children to live with hope, dignity, and safety. Child support is a straightforward, but urgent, fix.
Terese Edwards
CEO Single Mother Families Australia
Professor Kay Cook
Associate Dean Research at Swinburne University
FAQs
An initiative by Single Mother Families Australia (SMFA) aimed at advocating for a child support scheme and to prevent the weaponisation of the child support scheme. Our goal is simple: to improve financial security for receiving parents and their children by raising awareness of the gross misconduct of some payers, gathering public support, and influencing policymakers.
The key findings from the survey were presented to Parliament on 8 October 2024, with Professor Kay Cook, Jess Hill, and Rosie Batty as featured speakers.
The current Child Support scheme often leads to financial abuse, leaving many receiving parents in financial insecurity. Issues such as manipulation of income declaration by ex-partners and inadequate financial support contribute to the problem. This campaign seeks to address these issues and push for a fairer scheme for parents and children.
The Research was conducted by Single Mother Families Australia (SMFA) in conjunction with Swinburne University. SMFA put out a call to their network on Facebook and LinkedIn, and received and overwhelming response – with 675 number of responses
Unpaid child support impacts all Australians. When one parent withholds child support or minimises their tax, it can leave single parent households relying on government assistance—funded by taxpayers like you. Currently, $1.7 billion is owed in unpaid child support through agency collect alone, with the debt owed through private collect being unknown.
With almost 200,000 paying parents failing to lodge a tax return in 5 years funds are reduced for essential services like roads, healthcare, and education.Every child deserves the chance to grow up healthy, educated, and free from the stress of financial instability. By advocating for change, we can break the cycle of poverty and create a society where every child has the tools they need to succeed.
You can view the full paper here or download key stats to share on your social media or with your network here.
In 2023, we worked with Swinburne University to produce Financial Abuse: The Weaponisation of Child Support in Australia
Fix Child Support is powered by Single Mother Families Australia (SMFA), who are a NFP and have existed since 1973. Our team for this campaign consists of volunteers, including members from single-income families. We receive donations from the community and other organisations. SMFA is a registered charity.
Australia since 1973. Our goal is to eliminate and respond to violence, hardship, and domestic violence for single mums and their children.
We are a non-profit campaign run by volunteers who have put together this campaign, from the research paper to the website and speakers. Your donation will help fund our Meta ads to reach a larger audience and cover travel expenses for our speakers at the event on 8 October 2024. Any additional funds will go back to SMFA to directly help single-income families and children in need. As a registered charity, any donation over $2 is tax-deductible. SMFA is a registered charity.
There are several ways to get involved. We have a whole page dedicated to how you can be involved, but to summarise
- Email key MPs using the template provided on our website.
- Share our social media packs to help spread the word.
- Spread the word by sharing our website with like-minded people.
- Call key MP offices—we’ve provided phone numbers and a suggested script.
- Sign up for our newsletter to receive updates on the initiative.
- Contribute to our Lived Experiences Blog to have your voice heard.
The campaign focuses on several critical issues:
- Preventing the weaponisation of child support
- Ensuring adequate financial support for single mother families.
- Delinking child support from family payments.
- Streamlining child support collection through the ATO.
- Enforcing child support debts at the state level.
Your information will be used to personalise your experience on our website, generate letters to MPs, and keep you updated about the campaign. We are committed to protecting your privacy and will not share your information with third parties without your consent. For more details, please refer to our Privacy Policy.
You can stay updated by signing up for our newsletter on our website. We will send occasional updates about the campaign’s progress. We respect your privacy and will not spam you.
The Parliament House event will feature prominent speakers, including Professor Kay Cook, Jess Hill, and Rosie Batty, who will present new research and discuss policy impacts based on first-hand accounts from affected women.
This is not a public event, but there are a number of ways you can still be a part of it.
1) “write a letter to your MP”, 2) sign up to our newsletter to stay up-to-date
3) Contact us and share your story.
Yes, the campaign is an ongoing effort. The website will serve as a platform for future campaigns and reforms in the child support space. We will continue to advocate for necessary changes and support single mother families and their children.
We are really sorry to hear this, and with a team of many single mother families ourselves, we understand how hard it can be both emotionally and financially. SMFA has a range of support links on their website, from safety and housing to child support information and income support. Please visit the SMFA website for more resources and assistance.