Media Release
CSA Continues to Produce Results
07 July 2006
Minister for Human Services, The Hon. Joe Hockey MP, has applauded the Child Support Agency for passing two important milestones this week.
Minister Hockey noted the CSA continues to make life better for children and parents in the areas of compliance, accountability and online service.
In the past week the CSA:
- passed the $100 million mark as part of the Intensive Debt Collection programme,
- issued its 1,000,000 th customer service guarantee receipt number.
“This is great news for Australian children and a clear sign separated parents are receiving a better level of customer service from CSA,” Minister Hockey said.
“It also shows the Building a Better CSA package continues to produce tangible benefits,” he said. “I expect the CSA to respond quickly and fairly to its clients and these milestones demonstrate great progress has been made.”
The CSA Intensive Debt team was set up in July 2003 as part of the Government’s commitment to recover $131 million in outstanding child support over four years. [Editors note: State breakdowns listed below.]
“The CSA is well on track to achieve this result, and the Government is proud of CSA achieving the $100 million milestone for children who would otherwise have gone without,” Minister Hockey said.
In February 2006, the Government announced $150 million in extra funding over four years to improve service for CSA customers.
Providing customers with a receipt number at the end of each telephone conversation was one of the first improvements commenced in April.
“Customer receipt numbers form part of CSA’s new Customer Service Guarantee – they give parents confidence that there’s a record of their interaction with CSA and that any issues will be followed up promptly,” Minister Hockey said.
Minister Hockey also applauded the preliminary results from a new online initiative.
In late April, CSA introduced CSAonline, a secure, round-the-clock service for CSA customers. More than 10,000 customers have already chosen this option.
CSAonline allows most registered parents and employers making deductions for child support on behalf of parents, to access CSA correspondence and complete a range of transactions online.
“Many customers want to complete their business with the CSA at a time that suits them,” Minister Hockey said.
“Despite only six months passing since the Government provided CSA with increased funding, these three milestones show CSA has moved quickly to improve conditions for the 1.4 million separated parents and 1.1 million children who rely on the CSA.
Contact: James Chessell – Media Adviser – 0437 978 028
| Region | Attributed Credits | Total Cases |
|---|---|---|
| NSW/ACT | $27,743,741.66 | 14040 |
| QLD | $21,354,191.44 | 7555 |
| SA/NT | $9,899,624.38 | 3959 |
| VIC/TAS | $29,393,135.79 | 12021 |
| WA | $13,185,202.41 | 3184 |
| Total | $101,575,895.68 | 41029 |