The Case for Mandatory Paternity Testing at Birth for ALL Children Born in Australia
The Australian, February 16, 2011, by Patricia Karvelas
A men's rights group has called for mandatory paternity testing of all babies
after government figures revealed almost 600 instances of men compelled to
financially support children they did not father.
Since changes to child support laws four years ago, there had been 586 cases of
men successfully using DNA testing to show they were not biologically related to
children they had been financially supporting, the federal government has
revealed to The Australian.
In the overwhelming majority of these cases, the courts have not forced mothers
to pay back the money they have received.
Australian Broadcasting Corporation ( ABC ) 11 November, 2008
MARK COLVIN: Surveys differ wildly on the percentage of men who falsely believe
they're the father of a child.
A UK study put it at 30 per cent. Melbourne's Swinburne University said it was
just one per cent.
But what's clear is that with DNA testing becoming more accessible, paternity is
also getting easier to identify.
And the recent reform of child support laws has also empowered men. In fact
there's been a spate of cases where women have been forced to pay back child
support to men they wrongly identified as the father.
The Sun-Herald,
18 November 2007, By Maxine Frith
Steven Gillespie was overjoyed when his girlfriend of several months told him
she was pregnant.
They moved in together and he was present at the birth of their daughter - his
first child - in 2004, cutting her umbilical cord and later having her name
tattooed on his chest.
It was only after the couple split that she told him that the little girl, then
two, was not his - a claim confirmed by a paternity test.
"I was absolutely devastated," Mr Gillespie, a 46-year-old computer expert from
Brisbane, said. "My whole family was affected. My parents had been delighted to
have a grand-daughter and my sister had bought loads of presents.
More..
Sydney Morning Herald, March 29 2003, By Leonie Lamont
During an interstate access visit, and a trip to the Melbourne Show,
Bill told his 14-year-old son he was going to take him for an allergy
test.
The test was in reality a DNA parentage test, to establish the
likelihood of Bill being the boy's biological father. The fallout is set
to force the Federal Government to amend the Family Law Act so that men
who prove they are not the biological fathers can recover child
maintenance payments. More..