Veteran TV star in row on custody

A father has been told to double child support payments despite his ex-partner ­allegedly refusing to let him see their daughter.

Legalities of tying the knot.

A veteran television personality has been told he has to double child support payments to his former partner even though she is ­allegedly defying court orders and refusing to let him see their daughter.

The single father has accused his former partner of preventing him from spending time with his only child since the start of September, despite a Federal Circuit Court ruling he was entitled to part-time custody of their daughter — and that the Department of Social Services was demanding he pay the girl’s mother twice as much in maintenance because of it. “Her mother is being rewarded for (allegedly) disobeying a court order and withholding my child and being paid for the privilege,” he said.

The father, who cannot be identified under the Family Law Act, said he had been caring for his daughter for five nights a fortnight since the breakdown of his de facto relationship six years ago and paying his former partner maintenance for the time his daughter spent in her care.

The custody arrangements were formalised by the Family Court in 2014, with both parties agreeing on shared custody, and that the girl would spend 39 per cent of her time with her father and the rest with her mother.

The situation broke down in September after a disagreement about where their daughter would attend high school, and the father has accused his former partner of withholding access to her since.

The girl’s mother contacted the Department of Social Ser­vices in November to inform it she now had full-time custody of her daughter and requesting the amount of money the father was required to pay in child support be increased in light of the new care arrangements.

The department contacted the father, notifying him that he had two weeks to respond with any extra information before a decision was made regarding his child support commitments.

He responded a week later, saying the Federal Circuit Court had earlier that day upheld the Family Court’s joint care ­arrangements, ruling that shared custody was to remain in place.

He said his former partner had continued to withhold access to his daughter and he was contacted by the Department of Social Services on January 4 and told his required child support payments had ­almost doubled in light of the fact he was no longer caring for his daughter.

“I haven’t gotten to see my daughter properly since the very beginning of September, just ­before Father’s Day, and now her mother is being financially rewarded for (allegedly) defying court orders that we are to share custody of her,” he told The ­Australian.

“There’s been no legal change to the care arrangements and if her mother wasn’t withholding custody, my daughter would be with me right now and not had to spend Father’s Day and the Christmas holidays alone.’’

Services Australia general manager Hank Jongen said the department administered child support in accordance with legislation and had no role in what ­access parents had to their ­children.

A Department of Social Services spokesman said a joint select committee on Australia’s Family Law System had been established and was investigating improvements to the interaction between the family law system and the child support system.