21/08/2026
Child support should never be a tool of control.
ABC News has reported that Australia’s child support system is enabling financial abuse and coercive control after separation.
More than 80% of child support payees are women. The report found that over half of parents using Private Collect were underpaid, while one in four received no payment in a year. Meanwhile, Australia has more than $1.9 billion in unpaid child support.
A system designed to support children should not leave single mothers carrying the financial burden: or force them to choose between seeking support and fearing retaliation.
This is also why we must look beyond individual behaviour. In 2002, Melissa Cuturich coined the term PAC: Professionally Assisted Coercion: the way professionals and systems can enable coercion, sometimes without recognising or challenging it. Melissa has long questioned how banking processes may allow financial abuse to remain concealed.
Family law reforms that commenced on 10 June 2025 now require courts to consider the economic impact of family violence, including financial abuse, in property and financial matters. That is an important step: but prevention and protection are essential too.
Our upcoming Lifeguard app is being developed to help women monitor and secure their financial information in real time, helping identify and respond to financial coercion earlier.
Save this post. If you need support with financial abuse, separation, property, debt or child support, reach out to Diva Enterprise for a private conversation. We can recommend exceptional legal practitioners and other trusted services, especially if you feel discriminated against because your situation does not fit the social description of abuse.
If you are in crisis or immediate danger, contact 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit 1800respect.org.au.
Source: ABC News, 13 August 2026: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-14/child-support-system-financial-abuse-single-mothers/107026886