31 Aug 2009: CSA & AFP told to cooperate to avoid harmful mistakes

An investigation by the Commonwealth Ombudsman, Professor John McMillan, has found that a communication breakdown between the Child Support Agency (CSA) and the Australian Federal Police (AFP) allowed a father who owed more than $50,000 in child support to leave the country.

‘Mr X’ was under a Departure Prohibition Order (DPO) when he left Australia in 2005. He was not stopped at the airport because a DPO computer alert had expired and steps to renew it were not effective.

‘Mrs X’ complained to the Ombudsman during 2007-08 about the failure of the CSA and AFP to explain what had gone wrong and to resolve her subsequent compensation claim. She felt she was given the run around and left waiting for an answer from the agencies for more than a year.

Professor McMillan was highly critical of the failure of the two agencies to work together to resolve the case and said that the negative impact of the mistake on Mrs X was compounded by the poor response by the AFP and CSA to her concerns.

‘There were unreasonably long delays by both agencies in looking into the matter when it was brought to their attention, and to considering Mrs X’s claim for compensation,’ he said.

The Ombudsman said that there were lessons in Mrs X’s case for all government agencies that administer programs or deliver services in cooperation with other organisations.

‘The CSA and AFP were each responsible for ensuring that they had in place appropriate procedures for administering DPOs, but the procedures were ad hoc and no protocol for working together had been agreed upon,’ he said.

‘Each agency blames the other for what happened. Joint responsibility for the problem has not been accepted.’

Professor McMillan said that navigating between two or more government agencies to fix a problem could be difficult for members of the public.

‘My office found dealing separately with the CSA and the AFP to resolve Mrs X’s complaint challenging. Mrs X found the task impossible.’

The Ombudsman made several recommendations to the CSA and AFP to address their shortcomings in relation to this case. The CSA has accepted the recommendations; the AFP continues to be concerned about how responsibility should be allocated across the agencies.

Download the report: Caught between two agencies: The case of Mrs X.

Media contact: Media 02 6276 3759

Date of release: 31 August 2009