Changes to child support including taking into account the income of both parents will be introduced to Parliament in the next few months.



Revenue Minister and United Future leader Peter Dunne announced the changes at the party's annual conference in Wellington yesterday.



Many parents had a real sense that the current system was unfair and the changes reflected strong feedback in more than 2000 submissions the Government had received on the issue, he said.



The way child support is calculated will also be changed to reflect the actual cost of raising children and the degree of shared care between parents.



Dunne said the number of nights a year used to determine shared care will be reduced from 40 percent to 28 percent of nights.



Child support payments will be deducted directly from parents' pay-packets, he said. Penalty rules for defaulting parents would also be changed so they were not so punitive that parents were discouraged from resuming their payments.



Dunne acknowledged the changes would not please everyone.

"On something as contentious and as emotionally charged as child support, which only ever comes into people's lives when their relationship has broken down, it is not about trying to please people. It is about creating a system that people feel is fundamentally fair, and crucially, that they feel is for the benefit of their children."



Many separated parents were able to make their own child support arrangements amicably, which is what the Government wanted people to do, he said.

"We need a state-run system as a backstop for those who cannot or will not come to their own agreements."



More than 200,000 children relied on child support to feed and clothe them, Dunne said. They were the Government's priority.



"The changes to the current child support scheme are long overdue and need to provide a better balance to reflect the needs of children and their parents today. Family life in New Zealand has changed a great deal since the scheme was introduced 18 years ago."



Both parents were far more likely to be working than they were in the past and separated fathers were generally more involved with their children.



Changes to the child support formula will apply from April 2013 and changes relating to payments, penalties and debt rules will be introduced from April 2014.