Four little girls at the centre of a custody dispute on the Sunshine Coast are "missing" tonight. The girls  all aged between nine and 15  were due to be deported to Italy to live with their father. But the mother claims that when she went to pick them up from school this afternoon  after the handover time was brought forward to 3pm today  they were already gone. Department of Communities officials refused to comment to Nine News.

Employers who fail to pass on child support payments which they deduct from their employees wages, are the target of a new Gillard Government investigations unit. The Child Support Agency's Special Investigation s' unit has led to fines being imposed on employers of up to $30,000.00. Inquiries by the Special Investigations Unit had so far led to more than $500,000 in unpaid child support being paid up. The unit investigates employers who fail to provide information about e...

As part of next Tuesday's Budget, Mr Swan will overhaul a measure introduced by the Howard government as an element of its welfare to work program. For a single parent with dependent children, the drop in welfare will be about $120 a fortnight. Single parents or carers who foster children, educate their children at home or through distance education, have very big families or care for a disabled child will be exempt. Eligible single parents currently receive a parenting pa...

The Victorian government will announce $366 million of new money over four years to boost child protection, prompted by the recommendations of the inquiry by retired Supreme Court judge Philip Cummins. A paper will be released with the budget outlining the new laws, including changing the standard of proof in the Children's Court family division to a ''balance of probabilities'' instead of the ''beyond reasonable doubt'' standard applied to criminal cases. Included will be...