Child Support Agency and Departure Prohibition Orders

26th May, 2018

This evening, Channel 10's Federal Political Reporter Phoebe Bowden interviewed Philip as part of a story on the Child Support Agency ("CSA"), and the issuance of Departure Prohibition Orders ("DPO") to stop parents leaving the country without paying child support.

Whilst there was some success in the cases announced by our Government today, Philip often hears and sees the real stories, including those devastated families because of Child Support decisions gone wrong, especially where DPO's are issued incorrectly and/ or the CSA delegates have been misled.

It's important to understand that not all parents (both mums and dads) are equal under the Law (they should be), and there's many cases of the CSA ignoring Family Court decisions to the detriment of one party over another. Likewise, not all parents are deadbeat parents (as alluded to by The Australian Newspaper today) especially when the CSA's actions directly result in a parent losing their job (as is currently occurring) where a DPO is issued when the parent has to travel as part of their work, and this results in the effected parent no longer being able to pay their child support obligations, let alone look after themselves or their loved ones.

It is also of extreme concern that many case officers who raise debts also have no financial, accounting or forensic experience and unfortunately there are many examples of the debts raised (which support the issuance of DPO's) being revised or overruled by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

As Philip stressed to Phoebe, it's imperative to look at each case individually, as no two cases are the same and most importantly, any action taken must be in the best interests of the child.

We're Australian and we look after one another, and it's critical that the Family Law system and Child Support within Australia is fair, balanced and most importantly not only in the child's best interests, but also for both parents, grandparents and extended families of the child.

It's time for change Australia, and together we can do it.

Philip Couper