Support for separated parents – Mount Gambier

Separated parents who experience a change in their financial and other circumstances are being encouraged to contact the Child Support Agency (CSA) to make sure their child support assessment accurately reflects their situation.

CSA South Australian manager Jim McMahon said the CSA recognised the current economic climate could put some pressure on parents.

“The CSA wants to work hard to support parents and ensure that assessments are accurate for the benefit of the children and the parents involved,” Mr McMahon said.

“It’s important that parents let the CSA know about a change in their circumstances as soon as possible, as changes to child support payments may not be able to be backdated and this can put both parents in financial distress.”

Parents can call 131 272 to speak to a customer service officer, or visit the CSA office at 5 Percy Street, Mount Gambier.

Source:Support for separated parents

Child Support joins forces with kids helpline

The Child Support Agency has joined forces with the Kids Helpline to support children having trouble coping when their parents split up.
General Manager of the CSA, Matt Miller said the arrangement coincided with Youth Week which was an ideal time to highlight the issues and feelings children might experience when their parents separated.

Mr Miller said a new booklet, Family Separation – a guide for teens, offered advice for teenagers on how to cope with parental separation.

“The guide helps teenagers to identify their rights and it contains a list of contacts that teens can approach for help,” he said.
“We encourage those who feel they need support to ask for it and for them to reach out to friends and professionals if they need to.”

Mr Miller said while more parents were working together for the benefit of their children, the initiative would encourage parents and children to seek help if they needed it
“Independent research conducted by the Open Mind Research Group in August 2008 showed that only 17 per cent of receiving parents and 14 per cent of paying parents surveyed said they were extremely unlikely to be able to liaise with their ex-partner in a businesslike way,” he said.

“This is significantly fewer compared to the previous wave of research conducted in early 2008 (37 per cent receiving parents and 31 per cent paying parents).”
General Manager of Kids Helpline, Wendy Protheroe, said the most common reason children called the Helpline was to discuss family relationships, conflict and separation.

“Last year we undertook almost 9,000 counselling sessions about family relationships and almost three-quarters of those related to frequent or major family conflict and family breakdown, separation or divorce,” Ms Protheroe said.

“Many parents don’t realise that even minor conflict can be harmful for their children, so it’s important for families to be aware of the range of support services available.”
Mr Miller said parents needed to put the wellbeing of the children first, and encouraged them to make use of available resources.

“When parents separate, young people often say they feel isolated so it’s important that they know they’re not alone, and that there are people they can talk to,” he said.
Mr Miller said the CSA was in the process of developing products specifically for children under 12 who were experiencing family separation

He said the teen booklet was available from www.youth.csa.gov.au

Source: PS News Page 11 – Child Agency dials up Helpline deal

Eddie Murphy to pay $51,000 per month in child support

Source:Eddie Murphy ordered to $51,000 in child support | The Daily Telegraph

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