WEL attended the 20 April launch of a new report Fembot Debts, Opening the black box of child support: Shining a light on how financial abuse is perpetrated by Kay Cook, Adrienne Byrt and Ashlea Coen of Swinburne University of Technology, and Therese Edwards of Single Mother Families of Australia.

These debts involve the automatic recouping of Family Tax Benefit overpayments that result primarily from ex-partners lodging late tax returns. This triggers a recalculation of previous child support assessments, resulting in debts for women.

This is one of a series of reports on child support and the government has taken some steps that recognise deficiencies in the child support system. However this report documents how violent men are still able to use the system as a weapon of financial abuse toward their ex-partners and children.

The launch included a panel discussion chaired by Dr Terese Edwards comprising the Commonwealth Ombudsman, Iain Anderson, the Inspector General of Taxation and Taxation Ombudsman, Ruth Owen and expert by experience, Juanita McClaren discussing the impact on single mothers of financial abuse and weaponisation of the child support and taxation systems.

WEL supports the report’s recommendations, which aim to bring about meaningful

improvements, empower women and create a safe system:

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