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Tough agency to target parents
By FRANK CASSIDY

The Child Support Agency could face competition for some of its services when a United States-based debt-collection agency opens its doors in Australia in February.

Child Support Intervention of Texas believes parents who lose custody of their children have no other rights than to pay child support, and openly admits it would break the law to protect the interests of custodial parents.

The managing director of CSI, former professional bounty hunter Michael McCoy, 47, said his services had the imprimatur of the Australian Government, which recognised that the Australian Child Support Agency did not do very well collecting payments from some non-custodial parents. He said discussions with the agency revealed that the no-nonsense services of CSI would be most welcome.

' They're effective collecting from someone in standard employment,' Mr McCoy said, ' but they are having extreme difficulty collecting from self- employed people or those working under the table.'

A spokesman for the Child Support Agency said it had no record of any discussions with Mr McCoy. CSI has issued a ' Bill of No Rights' which has angered parents' organisations world-wide.

According to CSI, non-custodial parents unable to pay child support have no right to start a new family, no right of access to their children, no right to complain about the amount of child support they have to pay, no right to an explanation of how child support is spent and no right to happiness.

The CSI Bill of No Rights says failing to pay child support makes the payer ' no different than any other criminal' .

The director of the Men's Rights Agency, Sue Price, labelled the Bill of No Rights and CSI's plans to set up in Australia as ' outrageous' .

' The Child Support Agency already has all the power it needs,' Mrs Price said.

' This is a service we don't need.'

She said the 20-25 per cent commission charged by CSI on child-support collections showed it was just a money-making scheme. ' We don't want this garbage here.'

The Child Support Agency spokesman said Australia had a different system of child support from the United States.

' Government policy in Australia is that the CSA collects child support,' he said.

A spokeswoman for the Minister for Community Services, Larry Anthony, said the agency also had the power to reassess the amount of child-support payable, ' much more so than any private individual or company could' .

Mr McCoy said CSI also offered a paternity establishment service and would launch overseas rescue missions for children taken out of the country illegally.

' We would kidnap children to get them back,' Mr McCoy said.

' It's only appropriate.'

CSI's promise to set up shop in oz can be found at:
CSI's website
mirrored copy