Australian Men's Rights Advocates - AustralianMRA
Parental Payments Cost “Three Lives A Day”
Canberra Times - Sunday, 19th November 2000, by Megan Doherty
As many as three men a day are committing suicide because the nation's child-support system is driving them over the edge, according to the Lone Father's Association Australia.
Association President Barry Williams said the claim was not based any official figures but on anecdotal evidence such as phone calls made to its 22 branches around Australia.
"People will ring to say their son or partner has deliberately driven into a truck or driven off the road because they can't take it any more," he said.
ACT Coroner Warren Nicholl acknowledged this week that a struggle to meet child-support payments had played a large part in the suicide of Canberra man William Gilbert.
Mr William said the Lone Fathers Association supported the Child Support Agency and believed non-custodial parents should pay child support, but believed it should be based on a flat rate calculated after tax had been deducted.
Earlier this month Labor and the Democrats defeated in the Senate the Government's proposed changes to child support which would have seen non custodial parents pay $48 million less a year to custodial parents.
A spokesman for Family and Community Services Minister Larry Anthony said negotiations with Labor and the Democrats were continuing.
Australian Democrats Senator John Woodley said no-one denied injustices were occurring in the child-support system, especially to non-custodial parents, but the solution was not to shift the problem on to custodial parents. He hoped a compromise could be reached.
BBC - The One Show on Male Victims of Domestic Violence
BBC programme 'The One Show', in which the subject of domestic violence against men is discussed.
September, 2009
UK - not politically correct to fund shelters for men and their children who are victims of domestic violence.
Australian Government's assault on Separated Fathers
In July 2008, the media published banner headlines generated from media releases issued by the Australian Government's Minister for Human Services, Senator Joe Ludwig which includes:
Spies on dads dodging child support - Herald Sun, 23 June 2008,
"Human
Services Minister Joe Ludwig announced today that undercover
surveillance of parents would commence from July 1, in a bid to collect
almost $1 billion in child support debt across Australia. I want child
support cheats to be caught out on camera so the courts can see the
truth,"
Deadbeat dads fleeing to debt-free haven - The Australian, 30 July 2008,
"Separated parents living overseas now owe around $90 million in
payments to their kids back in Australia," Senator Ludwig said.
Chasing down deadbeat dads - Herald Sun, 1 August 2008,
Senator Ludwig also said
“More than 20,000 separated parents are denying their children support
by fleeing the country.
These mostly deadbeat dads owe a startling $90 million in child support and are guilty of a double betrayal.
Deadbeat dads don't need a visa to enter New Zealand and governments need to work together to identify and track down runaway parents.”
The truth
The one billion dollar debt level is a cumulative total incurred from the commencement of the child Support scheme in 1988/89. Over $500 million debt had accumulated by 1996/97. The Child Support Agency ( CSA ) has already been criticised by the Auditor General for using cumulative totals in their efforts to justify their performance.
Yet the CSA continues to do so, as well as ignoring false debts created using unsustainable or unrealistic income determinations. Neither can the accuracy of assessments be thoroughly checked when address details for 15% of clients cannot be confirmed. If the information were available it would be interesting to know how much of this debt is uncollectable because the payer is unemployed, disabled or deceased or the child’s circumstances have changed, but remain unacknowledged by CSA?
According to published CSA data, 96 per cent of all child support due has been paid.