[Solved] PLEASE HELP!

Hi There,

I don't know too much about the Oz CSA other than the fact that they can claim from the UK, Have you contacted the uk CSA to see if they have any means of interacting with the OZ CSA to try and help.

I'm sorry I can't help more than that as my knowledge is limited, so other than offering you support and somewhere to talk about whats happening I am struggling.

What you are going through seems so unfair, I'm surprised your local MP couldn't help you as they are supposed to be there to help when needed, I would possibly try again with them with what you have been told from court at this last visit.

GTTS

...I agree with GTTS.....keep a record of all your attempts to contact the Oz CSA to prove that you haven't been complacent in trying to resolve this. They surely can't take such a heavy hand with you if you can show that you have consistently tried to get it sorted out.

Have you taken legal advice, some solicitors offer a free initial consultation and this may be useful to you to get some legal perspective.

If you try your MP again ask them to refer this to the Parliamentary Omsbudsman and insist that they try and assist you in communicating with the Oz CSA.

Best of luck with it.

...just had a quick google and came across this which looks promising! I think before the Omsbudsman can deal with your complaint you need to have made a formal complaint to the CSA first.

http://www.ombudsman.gov.au/pages/about-us/our-office/what-we-do.php

http://www.ombudsman.gov.au/pages/making-a-complaint/tips-and-advice/

It might be that they are an internal service and you have to be Australian to use this service, I can't find any information on that specifically. The second link is their tips and advice page which gives some helpful info about approaching the agency, have you tried writing and making a formal complaint about their lack of communication? Make them aware of the position their silence is having on your family here and the repercussions for you in court. Keep copies of all correspondence and give them a length of time to respond, something like 21 days or you will escalate the complaint to the Commonwealth Omsbudsman.

Here's the CSA pdf on Child Support, specifically page 55 about their complaints procedure and pages 55 & 58
Which gives contact for the overseas cases team and other contact numbers.

http://www.australianmensrights.com/CSA_Calculator-Child_Support_Agency-Australia/The_Parents_Guide_to_Child_Support-CSA_Child_Support_Agency-Australia.pdf

If you go through all the channels, keeping every communication, putting it in writing and logged and documented and keep on at them, I can't see how the court can penalise you.

hi guys/gals.

Thanks for all your help and advize. it really is appreciated.

today i got a phone call from the local MP office and they have found someone with a little experiennce in this. i went to see her and she has helped a constituent who's ex partner moved to Austrailia leaving behnd her and her child. because the guy (in this case) moved to oz and still worked for a uk based company and paid uk tax they were able to claim the csa from him. if he had worked for an Austrailian company they could not have done anything. she seems to think that the magistrates are just enforcing this amount without checking the legaility of such a claim. she seemed really interested in taking on tis case and she seems to have some good contacts. she's drafting a letter to the Austrailian CSA on house of commons headded paper which should have a better chance of getting a response.

as for the threat of prison she says that's very harsh and is confident it won't come to that ( i hope she's right! i wouldn't last 5 minutes in prison. i'm too pretty!) just sounds like scare mongering to get me to pay up, which is really all they're interested in.

she's taken coppies of all my attempt to contact CSA Aus and i think because she could see my attempts saw that there's not really much more i could have done.

i'll keep this updated as much as i can when i find out things in the hope that this thread can be of some help should someone else find themselves in a similer situation,.

Hi,

That's great news that you now have someone in your corner fighting, hopefully your feeling a bit better about it now.

I would have thought that prison wouldn't actually be considered option and more as you've been told scare mongering to resolve the case and be able to close it down.

Stick with it and hopefully with your new helper you will get some where.

You made me chuckle with your coment about being too pretty for prison, glad you can joke about it.

GTTS

Hi

This might be really useless advice, but....a very effective way of getting companies or people to respond (quickly) to you, is to use twitter if they have an account.

I agree with the above - I think there is virtually no chance of you being sent to prison, It is generally only used for a parent who is willfully refusing to pay maintenance, whereas you are trying to pay maintenance. Certainly, it sounds as though your MP could be a lot of help, so I'd keep pushing for them to get a resolution to this.