How Centrelink's couples rule increases risks of domestic violence

Centrelink's "couples rule" ties women financially to their abusers. It's a holdover from the early days of the single mother's benefit, when only the "good" single mothers who remained chaste and pure were deemed worthy of payment. The bad mothers with boyfriends got squat. Single parents can still lose their benefits if a nosy neighbour decides to dob you in for having a partner stay over. At least they've one move in a progressive direction - the rule now applies to same sex partners too. Yay, I guess.

The Mandarin