Deadbeat dads barred from leaving OZ over child support
ABOUT 1800 deadbeat dads, including a wealthy mining magnate, have been prevented from leaving Australia until they pay a combined $9.9 million bill owed to their unpaid former spouses.
NSW
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A WEALTHY mining magnate stopped from boarding a first-class flight overseas over a six-month child support debt is among 1800 deadbeat dads banned from flying until they coughed up a total of $9.9 million owed to ex-wives.
Many of Australia’s wealthiest divorced fathers have been the target of a Turnbull government crackdown in which the Immigration Department and child support officers have joined forces to catch the men as they are about to board first or business class flights out of the country.
In one case, a mining magnate based in the Mediterranean was about to board his Emirates flight out of Sydney when Border Force Officials intercepted, ordering him to repay $22,000 — six month of child support payments — before allowing him to leave.
Another dad owed more than $100,000 to two different children. The Immigration Department told the Human Services Department that the man, who lived overseas, sporadically returned to Australia for short visits.
When he next visited Perth, he copped a Departure Prohibition Order barring him from leaving the country until he’d paid his debt.
He made an immediate payment of $20,000 and was put on a payment plan, until he had paid the $80,000.
In another case, an Australian father who lives overseas but visits Sydney often, was flying out from Sydney Airport when officials stopped him from leaving. He was forced to pay $30,000 in child support payments before he was allowed to rebook a flight out of the country.
One father, who owed $8000, had started sailing offshore from Melbourne Seaport when he was stopped from reaching international waters.
His overseas travel ban was only revoked after he had paid the child support liability.
The policy of stopping was first introduced in 2001.
But the Turnbull government has started matching the files of those who owe child support payments with ATO data and also files held by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection to target frequent travellers.
This has seen the number of cases spike from 218 in 2015 to 1800 last year, worth $9.9 million in child support payments.
Human Services Minister Alan Tudge said he had set up a third Departure Prohibition Order team to help track down parents evading their payments while living a lavish lifestyle of international travel.
Mr Tudge said some went to “lengths to avoid their financial responsibilities”.