http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23657897-5013871,00.html
Single mothers' child payments cut

By Patricia Karvelas, Political correspondent

May 07, 2008 The Australian (AU)---SINGLE mothers will receive between $10 and $100 less each week from their former partners after the Child Support Agency sends 1.5 million parents new assessments by the end of this week. By July 1, about 60 per cent of divorced fathers will pay less under the overhaul of the system.

The lobby group representing single parents is urging the Rudd Government to review rules passed by the Howard government two years ago that drastically changed the system. The previous government's changes, supported by Labor, included allowing fathers who see their children every week to have their support payments cut. For example, the payments of fathers with at least one day a week access are reduced by 24 per cent. A spokesperson for the Child Support Agency said that since the start of the assessments mailout there had been 97,307 calls related to the new scheme.

Human Services Minister Joe Ludwig said this was a more balanced way of working out child support, treating both parents' incomes equally. "The CSA is holding community information sessions to help parents understand the new scheme," he said. "I encourage parents to attend these information meetings."

In 2005, John Howard commissioned Sydney University law professor Patrick Parkinson to design a new system to balance the interests of men and women. Under his plan, custodial parents, mostly women, keep their current family tax benefits, which are shared between both parents under the old scheme. But the parent with custody receives less in maintenance payments.

Sole Parents Union president Kathleen Swinbourne said the "vast majority" of single mothers were facing cuts of $10 to $100 a week under the shake-up. "We've even had complaints from people losing over a hundred dollars a week," she said. "As nice as the agency might want to be about it, this is the new formula and they are tasked with implementing it. There is no appeal on the formula but unfortunately, it is very, very flawed."

Ms Swinbourne said some mothers were already pulling kids out of private schools to deal with loss of payments. "The Government has to look at this again," she said.