We are calling on the Australian Government and Services Australia to urgently reform the child support system. It unfairly punishes the working parent—usually the one doing the majority of the caregiving—and rewards the parent who contributes the least.

I’m a mum with over 65% care of my two daughters. I’m the one who takes them to medical appointments, buys school supplies, pays for uniforms, food, transport, after-school activities—and now I’m about to pay for braces for both girls. Their father simply says, “I don’t pay extras.” And legally, he doesn’t have to.

To make matters worse, I still have to pay him child support—even though he only has 35% care and contributes nothing financially. Why? Because I work full-time and he doesn’t.

I didn’t get a full-time job to support him—I did it to support my children. And yet, the more I earn to give them a better life, the more money he receives from me in child support.

This isn’t just my situation. This is happening to thousands of parents across Australia who are being punished for doing the right thing.

The current Child Support system: Bases payments solely on income and the number of overnight stays,
Doesn’t consider who actually pays for real-life expenses like school, healthcare, and sports,
Allows one parent to claim care percentages without any genuine involvement,
Punishes the parent doing all the work—simply for having a job.

It punishes the working parent and rewards the one who sits at home and does nothing.

The system is also broken when it comes to shared expenses. If the primary carer pays for something like school fees, orthodontics, or specialist medical care, they can upload a receipt and list it as a third-party payment. But unless the other parent agrees to that payment—even if they weren’t involved or refused to help—it doesn’t reduce their child support. That means the parent who pays the bills still has to pay child support on top of it, while the other parent can just say no and walk away.

We’re calling for urgent reform to the Child Support system, including:

A full review of the income-based formula when care isn’t shared 50/50
Mandatory consideration of actual expenses like school, medical, and day-to-day costs
Stronger accountability for inflated or false care percentage claims
A fairer third-party payment system that doesn’t rely on the other parent’s approval
A system that no longer punishes parents for working hard to support their children

This system is outdated, unfair, and it hurts the very children it’s meant to protect.

Please sign and share this petition to help make the system fair for all parents—and to protect the families who are doing their absolute best.