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Government agency deliberately broke law for years, federal watchdog finds
Services Australia became aware that it was not fully complying with new legislation in 2019, but the issue is yet to be rectified. (AAP: Mick Tsikas)
Services Australia has known it was not fully complying with child support laws for six years, according to a scathing report released by the Commonwealth Ombudsman.
Legislative amendments introduced in 2008 and 2018 created "unintended consequences" in which some parents with less than 35 per cent care of a child were technically eligible for child support, despite a longstanding government policy that this is not the case.
A government spokesperson said legislation to rectify the "technical legal anomaly" would be introduced when parliament next sits in February.
Services Australia has not applied child support law properly and some parents are owed money, report finds
Ombudsman says agency knew for years that part of its child support processing not in line with law
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Services Australia knew its internal practices relating to child support payments conflict with the law but did nothing about it for six years, a report from the commonwealth ombudsman has found.
In 2019, the agency identified that its child support practice that stipulated that parents with less than 35% care of a child do not receive financial support was not aligned with the law.
Legally, one parent providing less than 35% care of a child is entitled to receive some support from the other parent, but Services Australia said it has a “longstanding principle” that parents with less than 35% care of a child should not be eligible for child support as applying the law could result in situations where a parent with “little, or even no care, of children” receives payment from the main carer.
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Bureaucrats blasted over child support payment loophole
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A government department has been caught out deliberately breaking the law because of a bizarre loophole which could force separated parents to unfairly pay child support.
An ombudsman's report into Services Australia and the Department of Social Services found the agencies were "knowingly non-compliant" with child support legislation.
Commonwealth Ombudsman Iain Anderson said the scenario was similar to the Robodebt scandal, because it also involved a government department ignoring the law – albeit for a different reason.
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