Benk your argument doesn't hold if we're talking about the same case; because that isn't at all how the mother (or father) was described.
I gave a link to the court report a bit further back.

As for the other cases, I would want to read the court reports of those as well before uncritically accepting Laurie Nowell's articles on this sort of topic.

Benk, "Perhaps this indicates a need to review levels of child support payable."

I suspect that rates are seen by payers and payee's as either extravagant or inadequate depending on their circumstances. I posted a link to a dated summary of Child support material on one of the other thread's recently
http://www.childpolicyintl.org/childsupport.html

I don't know that I'm seeing the full picture but my impression was that Australian rates of child support are higher than other countries often considered more socially progressive than Australia

eg
Norway
* 11% for 1 child
* 18% for 2 children
* 24% for 3 children
* 28% for 4 or more children

Australia
* 18% for 1 child
* 27% for 2 children
* 32% for 3 children
* 36% for 5 or more children

I think that the spin and double standards around child support play a significant factor in peoples willingness to pay up. No account is taken of the circumstances which lead to the residency arrangements - the person who deliberately makes shared care impossible gets as much as the person left with the care of the children by a partner who does not want involvement.

As I've said a number of times I think that we would all be better off if child support was ditched or radically restructured so that parents had no ongoing financial ties to each other. It's an ongoing source of conflict in what's an already difficult situation. It's most definitely not in children's best interests to have their parents engaged in a protracted dispute over money.

R0bert

Anticeptic is comfortable with the actions of a man who "... admitted a plea of guilty to involved a video tape which the father had filmed from web pages. The video tape was a recording of various young girls, aged approximately 10 to 14 years, some were naked and some were in bikinis, which the father had downloaded from child pornographic web sites.""

I am with Benk when I absolutely refute the actions of this man as 'innocent'. He filmed the websites of naked and bikini-clad prepubescent girls for God's sake!

What possible reason did he have for doing this other than playing his movie back to himself later for his own 'enjoyment'?

He didn't paint or photograph them for arts sake at all Antiseptic!
He is a sick individual who needs to be kept away from young girls.

This post was deleted for abuse.

R0bert:"I think that we would all be better off if child support was ditched or radically restructured so that parents had no ongoing financial ties to each other."

I'm with you. I was reminded again yesterday of just how much this Agency is responsible for conflict. As I have said previously, my ex and I hace a deal whereby we share all costs of the kids equally. Well, it turns out that she hasn't been telling the CSA when I have given her money, so on Saturday, when I go to pay my power bill, I find that my account is empty and frozen and the $1500 that was in there is nowhere to be found. The CSA has still not informed me of their actions.

To put this in perspective, according to the CSA I should pay my ex about $450 a month, while I have actually paid about $4000 in the past 4 months, none of which they have been told about. IOW, I'm actually paying about twice what they assess, as well as spending money on their orthodontic treatment, clothes, books, outings, etc, which I don't make an accounting of. Call it about $10-$15K a year in addition to the assessed CS.

Now, the CSA's action, although heavy-handed thuggery, is not really the issue. The real issue is that I have been punished for her omissions and she has been rewarded by being given money she is not entitled to. If I complain to the CSA they will say "work it out with her" and will take no action. This is not the first time this has happened, but it will be the last. She will receive no more from me except whatever they manage to steal. I will not be held to ransom by her dishonesty.

I remain unable to access my bank account 5 days later.

The worst part of all this is that I thought we had come to a stable arrangement. It looks like it's back to the merry-go-round.

<"If the unlikely happens and he does offend against the kids, I'm sure we'll hear all about it and I'll be more than willing to say I was wrong.">

One of the children has already told at least 4 adults: the mother, police and a couple of counsellors that he took her into his bed (after he'd already been ordered not to do that anymore) and "badgered" her.

She has asked repeatedly not to be left alone with him.

I wonder how many adults you think this child needs to tell before she is assured of safety.

Yes she loves her father. Children who are abused often do love the abuser; they just want the abuse to stop. If he cared at all about stopping and he cared about ensuring that she feels safe, he would insist on supervised day visits so that he could rebuild her trust.

Instead we have idiots standing up for him regardless of the child's need and risks. THAT's why so many good men say you and your sick groups don't speak for them.

As for your hateful comment to ChasP - what a gutter level thing to say. It certainly evidences just the type of person you are.