Child Support Payments & Parental Responsibility

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missstt

Member
20 June 2014
2
0
1
I'm wanting information around 2 areas.

Firstly, Child Support: My Son's Father has for the last 3 years, lied about his income, therefore has never paid the correct child support. What generally happens is he will provide an estimate of income being $0.00, child support accepts, I call and ask them to investigate, providing employment details etc. He then re-affirms his $0.00 income. Tax time rolls around and his income is shown to be usually around the $40,000.00 mark through the ATO. Child support then updates his income according to his tax return, he then calls and says income is $0.00 and the cycle continues. I've never received any back pay even though tax returns dictate that he should have paid much more child support for each financial year. How can I recover this? Can I take him to court? How can I prevent this from continuing?
My second query is: During my Son's 3 years of life, I have received no consistent parenting support from his Father. It's a hard responsibility to raise a child on my own, and it wasn't only my choice to bring our Son into the world. He needs his Father, as any child does. His Father, whilst my opinion of him is quite a negative one, is not a bad person and there's no reason for him to not be involved in his son's life. I need help from him to care for our son, and my son needs a male role model in his life. It is in the best interest of the child to have both parents involved is it not?

How can I request that support from him under family law? There are such things as family court orders for one parent to ALLOW the other to be involved in the child's life, what about vice versa, where the other parent does not involve themselves at all? What steps can I take to receive that support?
Thanks for your help.
 

rebeccag

Well-Known Member
8 April 2014
147
35
514
G'day missstt,
Have you lodged a compliant about child support with the Department of Human Services? (If you’re unable to resolve a complaint with the Department directly, the Commonwealth Ombudsman might be able to help you. They investigate complaints from people who believe they have been treated unfairly or unreasonably by an Australian Government department. For more information call 1300 362 072 or visit theOmbudsman website.)

A Family Relationship Centre may be able to help you and your ex-partner agree about parenting arrangements and child support payments. If you can’t come to an agreement, your local community legal centre, Legal Aid (if you’re eligible) or Womens’ Legal Services Centre can help you with legal options, and may also have specialist child support services.