delinquent fathers.

Outstanding maintenance debts are being paid to Magistrates' Court following the introduction of new measures aimed at clearing the $8 million in arrears.

And Court Administrator, Mr. Tracy Kelly says that the collection system will improve even more over the coming months.

Already this year the courts have managed to collect some $2.3 million in maintenance arrears. This is $223,000 up on the same period last year.

The situation is improving all the time, according to Mr. Kelly, with a record $264,000 collected in October.

Mr. Kelly said that bailiffs are now able to do their job more efficiently under the new Family and Child Support Office and when the office is fully operational it will be even better.

The new office was applauded by Health and Social Services Minister, the Hon.

Quinton Edness in June, but Mr. Kelly says that the courts have been preparing it for more than a year.

The Family and Child Support Office brings parents together to discuss problems and works out reasonable answers.

But it also allows bailiffs to take immediate action against parents, mostly fathers, who fail to meet maintenance payments.

The courts are also given powers to prosecute non-paying fathers. In the past it was up to the mother to take court action.

Mr. Kelly said: "The support programme is something we have been working on for about a year. We have been working hard and there have been some improvements in procedures.

"To date we have collected more money in 1992 than in the previous year. The measures are already working and will continue to improve when we receive a few more staff.'' Mr. Edness said that he was pleased with the way that the new system has worked so far and that he was keeping his fingers crossed that it would continue to work.

"The Government has put and is continuing to put these measures into place.

We hope the measures in our White Paper will improve the situation even more,'' he said.

"This paper deals, primarily, with setting up an advocates office concentrating on punitive functions and collection of maintenance money.

"But it is also deals with caring parents to make sure they are looked after.

It tries to work out the difference between warring parents.'' However, the Minister stressed that the main target was reducing the $8 million in arrears which was heading dangerously close to $10 million before the measures were taken.

"The Government is aware that we need to do much more work.'' A standing committee has been set up to study the situation and Mr. Edness is keen that children should not be used as pawns in disputes between their parents.

Mr. Edness added: "It is good that we can make so-called uncaring parents pay when they have not been paying.

"At the same time we have to deal with fathers and make sure that their rights to see their children are not being denied them.''