Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee, , 10:05:29 to 10:09:39
Discussion regarding budget commitments to expand employer withholding and DPOs, including the introduction of a two-part test for travel restrictions on debtors with over $10,000 in arrears.
Topics: Government spending, Law reform
Speakers: Chris Gatenby, Matt Flavel, Ben Peoples, Ellie Whiteaker, Hon Katy Gallagher
Okay. No worries, thank you. Um in the budget, the government made a commitment to deliver changes to provide better protection for parents. Um I just want to talk about the new powers for child support, the child support agency to refuse objections and changes of assessment for vexatious claims. Um we've heard that this directly from parents, but I'm just wondering, did any of the modelling um on the number of claims you expect? Do you have any modelling on the numbers you expect for people to be refused? Sorry.
Uh I don't know we've got modelling, but we certainly obviously made assumptions about expected um you know, uh expected use of those powers if you want to call it that that supported the costings that were um that were in the package that was announced earlier this year in May in the budget.
And do you know how many now are deemed to be vexatious?
Well, that so the legislation won't take effect until it's passed the Senate and so yeah,
and just the um standing orders prevent us from going to the specific detail of the bill before the Senate. So we'll just make sure that we're not going too close to the all good trade carefully.
Um so there will be uh a second bill as well, I believe, coming through at some point. This one before the Parliament was what's right, there's another one that's yet to be tabled.
Yes.
Uh we'll expand the use of payer withholding and departure prohibition orders. Can you provide information on how employer withholding arrangements will be expanded?
P. will be just talking about general terms now.
So the intent and details of the change is to provide um greater collection of payments directly from wages to align child support payments with employer payroll cycles to improve um online services and efficiency of business processes and systems enabling the um collection method to be used and and to be more um efficient um for businesses as well.
Okay. Um for the expansion of DPOs, uh the changes will see a DPO applied automatically, the debt is 10,000. Um in a coin, I think it was 709, you said you'd expect an additional 3,000 DPOs to be issued, which is quite low, but um given there are 230,000 debtors. Why were these thresholds selected?
Well, the threshold is actually two-part test. It's it's 10,000 a debt of 10,000 or more, and you've travelled more than once uh overseas in the last three years. Two years, two years. Um and so that reduces of that total um only those people who've travelled uh outside Australia more than um once in the last two years would be captured. There are some reasons why people can get exemptions, and so the modelling essentially then just takes a reduce uh a portion of the available. Um they are a particularly effective mechanism though uh to ensure that people are meeting their obligations, particularly in circumstances where where they might otherwise um leave the country.
Thanks, Mr. Flewen. Um what is involved in issuing a DPO order? Or DPO, sorry?
Uh so there's a communication exchange between um Services Australia, um Australian Border Force Um and that um alerts Australian Border Force to where um uh a parent may have a debt um of a certain threshold where in terms of the reformed and expanded um uh DPO we are working with um home affairs border force and services Australia about some of the processes that will support that as well.
And sort of generally how much time and effort does it currently take, sort of report resource-wise for the department?
One more question after this Senator.
I mean that that's probably a question for Service Australia um in terms of the specifics of how long it takes.
But you know, it's a very detailed process to go through, don't worry.
But that processes for Services Australia is what you're finding.
That's yeah.
Okay. Thank you, Chair.
Thank you, Senator Gaiden B.