Forget the child support money--safety more important, say protective parents (Australia)

I agree 100 percent. Although I paid child support to my daughter's abusive father for years when he had custody, I have never received a cent since getting her back. And I'm just fine with that, if it means he stays away from us and doesn't further harrass or stalk us.

http://www.theage.com.au/national/safety-most-important-say-separated-parents-20091016-h18k.html

Safety most important, say separated parents

SELMA MILOVANOVIC
October 17, 2009

Parents wanting to protect their children from unwanted contact with violent ex-spouses have told the Federal Government they are happy to go without child support payments.

In a submission to the Family Court Violence Review, 4000 parents represented by the National Council for Children Post-Separation say such payments should not be governed by both parents' access to children.

Currently, parents who want to spare their children from unwanted contact visits with a violent or controlling ex-spouse lose some of their Centrelink payments under Child Support Agency rules.

''The trauma involved in access visits, for both the child and the exiting spouse, simply so one parent can avoid CSA payments is an unfair and unnecessary burden on the child,'' council convener Barbara Biggs said.

''Protective parents, often victims of domestic violence, are telling us they don't want the money at the expense of putting their child in danger of abuse.''

Ms Biggs said concerned parents had told the council that violent ex-spouses were demanding equal time with their children to avoid having to make child support payments.

''Decoupling child support from time-spent principles would ensure that parents fighting for more time with their children do so for non-financial reasons,'' the council's submission said.

Submissions closed yesterday for the review, announced by Attorney-General Robert McClelland after the tragic case of Darcey Freeman, the four-year-old child of divorced parents allegedly tipped over the West Gate Bridge in January. Her father, Arthur Phillip Freeman, 36, of Hawthorn, has pleaded not guilty to murder.

Meantime, the Australian Law Reform Commission is developing a national legal framework to tackle family violence and the Institute of Family Studies is reviewing shared parenting laws.