I became a single mum in 2015. My relationship was abusive, and things got much worse after the separation. He stalked and harassed me, causing trauma for both myself and my children. He only took jobs that paid all or partial wages in cash. For around four years, I received a maximum of $50 per week in child support for three kids—despite having 100% care. During this time, he would travel overseas for holidays while declaring a $0 annual income for at least three years.
In 2018, I was able to provide evidence that he had been lying about his income, and child support finally made a correction, increasing his monthly child support assessment and raising a debt of about $6,000. Soon after, he quit his job, took another full cash-paying role, declared $0 income again, and claimed financial hardship with Child Support. They waived his debt. During this time, two of my children were diagnosed with ASD2 and severe anxiety. My ability to work and study became limited, and I was at risk of bankruptcy and losing our home. I struggled to put food on the table, and at times, relied on support from friends and local churches.
Eventually, he took a mining job, which the ATO became aware of after one year of tax returns were filed. From then on, he was required to pay more in child support, although it has never been something I could rely on.
More recently, he took advantage of my eldest son, who is 17 and has ASD2, ADHD, anxiety, and intellectual difficulties. After not seeing his son for over eight years, he took him to a regional town in, NSW—a remote and isolated community. My son couldn’t access any support there through his NDIS plan, and his ‘father’ left him alone to rent an old shed from strangers. He was begging me and our friends in Queensland for warm clothes and food.
At the same time, my son’s ‘father’ applied for child support, claiming 100% care of my oldest son. This required me to prove that he wasn’t caring for our son but had abandoned him in a remote community, 15 hours away from me, his only parent and carer. Myself, friends who were also sending my son money for food, and his NDIS coordinator provided evidence that the ‘father’ was lying to CSA. The evidence was sufficient, and I requested CSA investigate why he had failed to lodge a tax return for nine out of the past ten years. They informed me that there was no penalty for lying to CSA.
It seems the ATO or CSA did something because, suddenly, three tax returns were filed, revealing he had been earning significantly more than he declared. This resulted in a $24,987 debt (currently). I don’t know what to do—calling CSA only upsets me because they don’t seem to care or understand how this affects our family. My children have gone without so much in their lives, and now there’s this large debt that should have supported them, but there’s nothing I can do to ensure they’ll ever receive it. I worry he’ll lie again, and CSA will just waive it.
These men use the system to their advantage to further abuse us and their children. CSA often doesn’t take our concerns seriously. I’m exhausted by this system, and I will never understand why anyone would want their own kids to suffer, or why government agencies would allow it.
– From a hard working mother of 3 who wants to share her experience with income manipulation through Child Support.
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At Fix Child Support, we acknowledge the strength and courage of those who share their personal experiences. These stories shed light on the challenges faced by many in the child support system, and we are committed to amplifying these voices in the fight for reform. If you would like to share your story with us, please email us!