2026-10-12
Australia must use every lever at its disposal to end femicide in this country, which is why the Greens are moving amendments that will stop government support from tying women to their current and former partners.
The Greens will move amendments that seek to abolish partner income testing from social security means-testing provisions and to prevent Family Tax Benefit debts from being raised against women who are owed unpaid child support.
Current tax laws presume that single parents have received all child support payments they are owed when managed privately, despite this being incorrect two thirds of the time. This can result in women being incorrectly assessed as owing tens of thousands of dollars in tax. Labor’s proposed changes tinker around the edges but won’t get to the heart of this injustice.
When a woman is killed in Australia every 11 days on average in acts of family and gender-based violence, the Government should be doing everything in its power to support victim-survivors. However, the current social security and child support legislation ties people to their partners and ex-partners, creating financial dependency and facilitating financial abuse even after separation.
The Commonwealth Ombudsman found that the government was recovering Family Tax Benefit debts from parents receiving child support, regardless of whether the parents have actually been paid the Child Support they are owed, creating a significant financial burden.
Government support must not tie people to their partners, and especially ex-partners who are abusing the system.
Comments attributable to Greens spokesperson on Social Services, Senator Penny Allman-Payne:
“The little that social security payments provide is already incompatible with living a decent life, and for women hit with a Family Tax Benefit debt, the extra financial pressure is catastrophic.
“So-called social security reform announced by the Government continually pursues a debt recovery agenda. Social security is supposed to be exactly that: security.
“These debts push parents, especially single mother families, into distress and hardship. Poverty and homelessness already disproportionately impact women and children, and this can follow them through their lives.
“For single mothers and women experiencing domestic and family violence, the last thing they need is the Government placing conditions on receiving support that tie them to their current or former partners.
“The Greens want to ensure that single mothers are not subject to ongoing abuse or huge tax bills. That money should be going to their kids’ future and meeting the rising cost of living.
“The Greens’ amendments ensure that help will be there for all of us when we need it.”
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