Opening the black box of child support: Shining a light on how financial abuse is perpetrated

Abstract

This report investigates how the Australian child support system can be weaponised to perpetrate financial abuse against women, particularly single mothers. Drawing on the experiences of 675 single mothers, the report reveals how violence, particularly financial abuse, continues post-separation and is often exacerbated by the child support process. The study identifies critical points where the system fails women and creates opportunities for abusers to exert control. The report calls for urgent reforms to address the harmful impacts of the child support system and to safeguard the financial well-being of women and children.

<br><br><p>Child support, despite its straightforward and important aim of transferring payments between separated households, is regarded as a complex area of policy and a ‘black box’ in which there is a lack of data on how the system operates. The system’s opacity means that parents’ experiences are largely unknown – particularly for half of the caseload who transfer payments privately. Policy and service blind spots and loopholes allow harmful behaviour perpetrated through the child support system to go undetected and unaccounted for. The lack of evidence on the harms that the system enables in turn perpetuates the myth that child support is a benign administrative process.</p>

<p>The recommendations in this report are a direct result of the survey findings and are intended to:</p>

<ul> <li>bring about meaningful improvements;</li> <li>empower women with autonomy and choice that is directed by what they want and require for their family; and</li> <li>create a system that is safe for women to engage in.</li> </ul>

<strong>Recommendations</strong>

<ul> <li>Delink family payments from child support by eliminating the Maintenance Income Test.</li> <li>Co-design family violence processes within the child support system to recognise the high rates of violence experienced by system users.</li> <li>Move all child support collections back into the Australian Tax Office.</li> <li>Make all payment debts owed to and enforced by the Commonwealth.</li> </ul>