Family violence & Commonwealth laws e-news | Issue 5

3rd Issues Paper released: Family Violence—Child support and family assistance

Closing date for submissions to this Issues Paper is 21 April 2011.

This Issues Paper deals with the treatment of family violence in child support and family assistance laws, and questions how laws and practices can be improved to better protect the safety of victims.

The Paper considers whether a definition of family violence should be inserted into child support and family assistance legislation, and a number of issues in relation to child support, including:

• screening for family violence by the Child Support Agency;
• the requirement to take reasonable maintenance action, and exemptions granted due to family violence;
• collection of child support; and
• protection of personal information.

With respect to family assistance, the following issues, among others, are addressed:

• exemptions from Tax File Number requirements in cases of family violence;
• payment of Family Tax Benefit when a child is in informal care; and
• the Special Child Care Benefit where children are considered at risk of serious abuse.

4th and final Issues Paper: Family Violence—Social security law

Closing date for submissions to this Issues Paper is 27 April 2011.

The Issues Paper deals with the treatment of family violence in Commonwealth social security law, including income management. The Issues Paper further considers a number of issues, including

• the collection and processing of information;
• the definition of relationships where family violence exists;
• access and compliance with administrative requirements; and
• payment arrangements.

With respect to income management, the following issues, among others, are addressed:

• the indicators of vulnerability under the legislation;
• exemptions from income management in cases of family violence;
• payment arrangements and account access; and
• comparisons between compulsory and voluntary income management.

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