By JOHN VAN KLAVEREN
A SURGE in single parents across the Barwon region has prompted extension of a free child support advice service.
Victoria Legal Aid Barwon region managing lawyer Pat Tainton said the area had recorded “rapid growth” in the number of single parents.
Victoria Legal Aid had introduced a regular child support outreach service to help cope with growing demand from the increase in single parents, she said.
“We saw that Geelong was rapidly growing and an area of economic disadvantage,” Ms Tainton said.
“We also know that single parents are especially vulnerable to legal problems, compounded by their socio-economic status.
“This new service enables people who are facing problems or uncertainty with child support issues to talk face-to-face with a legal expert – for free and in confidence,” she said.
“Our visiting financial support service lawyer can help with legal problems about getting or paying child support, paternity testing, changes of assessment, maintenance for over 18s or spousal maintenance.”
Ms Tainton said Victoria Legal Aid assisted in many child support cases throughout the state where people were unaware or unclear about their legal rights and the steps involved.
“One of our family lawyers recently helped a divorced single mother who had been forced to live in her friend’s garage with her young daughter because she didn’t know that she should be receiving child support payments.
“She was in a vulnerable situation, couldn’t afford to pay her rent and hadn’t understood what her legal rights were. Her ex-husband misrepresented her situation to the child support in the Department of Human Services, creating the impression that she was well-supported by her community and friends and that she didn’t need his child support payments,” she said.
“Like so many other cases, we were able to help by making sure this single mum received the child support payments she was entitled to.”
Ms Tainton said the service would complement Barwon Community Legal Service’s child support work.
She said the next visits would be on 12 September and 14 November at Level 2, 199 Moorabool Street, Geelong.
Appointments are available by phoning 1300 792 387.
