Media Release by The Hon Larry Anthony MP

More child support services for Regional Australia

The Minister for Community Services, Mr Larry Anthony, today announced a significant expansion of Child Support Agency (CSA) services for people living in regional Australia.

Mr Anthony said that the Child Support Agency plans to open outlets in 20 Centrelink offices across the country to provide parents, particularly those living in regional Australia, better access to their services.

“These new outlets will allow the Child Support Agency to provide greater assistance to parents in these areas when negotiating child support arrangements for their children,” he said.

Mr Anthony said that CSA outlets would open progressively over the next seven months, with all sites opened by February 2000.

“The Child Support Agency has been particularly keen to provide clients with increased face-to-face services to help parents establish ongoing support for their children,” he said.

“These new outlets build on the existing Child Support Agency network which, until now, have only provided services to parents living in regional Australia with face-to-face opportunities through regular visiting services,” he said

Mr Anthony said the Government would be monitoring the success of these outlets to see if the concept can be extended to other parts of regional Australia.

“This is an exciting new venture that will see the Child Support Agency and Centrelink working together to provide a better level of service to their customers,” Mr Anthony said.

“We all want our children to have the best start in life and both the Child Support Agency and Centrelink is there to help parents give their kids a financially secure upbringing,” Mr Anthony said.

Child Support Agency Outlets will be opened in the following Centrelink Sites:

New South Wales

  • Ballina
  • Coffs Harbour
  • Campbell Town
  • Dubbo
  • Wagga Wagga
  • Gosford

Victoria

  • Bendigo
  • Morwell
  • Frankston

Queensland

  • Cairns
  • Mackay
  • Rockhampton
  • Bundaberg
  • Maroochydore
  • Toowoomba
  • Palm Beach

South Australia

  • Port Augusta
  • Mt Gambier

Northern Territory

  • Alice Springs
  • Darwin (located in the Australian Tax Office

West Australia

  • Bunbury

Tasmania

  • Launceston