Forcing welfare recipients to disprove their own debts has made the error-prone, previously rare practice of “income averaging” commonplace, welfare advocates say.
The National Social Security Rights Network has used its submission to the “robo-debt” Senate inquiry to provide a forensic and detailed account of the problems with the new system.
Government-contracted debt collectors allegedly threatened to garnish a student’s wages unless she immediately paid $500 for a Centrelink debt that was in dispute, a Senate inquiry has heard.
‘As any normal person would, I panicked and paid $500 using my credit card,’ postgraduate student says
Labor-commissioned legal advice says it is “reasonably clear” that the government committed a criminal offence when it released the personal details of welfare recipient Andie Fox.
The opposition recently engaged one of Australia’s leading criminal barristers, Robert Richter, QC, to consider the release of Fox’s protected information by the office of human services minister, Alan Tudge, in February.
Centrelink hit at least 21,000 families with bogus Family Tax Benefit debts last year, the federal government has conceded.
The welfare agency sent 65,000 demands in November 2016 to repay money received through the family assistance payment but about 21,400 of the families hit with the debt notices were able to prove they owed Centrelink nothing.
Scott Morrison's problem in delivering the budget is that people don't trust him.
He said Centrelink's new data matching software was going to deliver more "accurate and appropriate income testing". It would "cut red tape and ensure that mistakes are minimised".
Centrelink ‘have the power of destroying your life’, says one recipient in submission to Senate inquiry on automated debt recovery system.
Welfare clients tell of stress, depression, anger over controversial debt collection.
Blogger Andie Fox wrote a comment piece for the Fairfax papers on February 6, outlining her experience with Centrelink. Then things got nasty.
PAYWALL
The human services minister says he has personally reviewed more than 50 Centrelink debt recovery cases mentioned in the media since Christmas.
Alan Tudge says a third of the cases brought to light have nothing to do with the welfare agency's complaint-prone online compliance system.
Senior staff from the Department of Human Services told Senate estimates on March 2 that the average wait time to speak to a Centrelink operator is 14 minutes and 10 seconds.
But with reports of some people waiting more than an hour, 28 million busy signals so far this year, and welfare recipients being encouraged to go online rather than speak to someone, this doesn’t match with most people’s experiences of calling Centrelink.
This is because what’s not included in the reported wait time is probably more important than what is.
[T]he Australian government is itself falling well below adhering to the rule of law. I offer Centrelink #notmydebt as a case study.
Tasmanian pension recipients fear they will be caught up in Centrelink’s controversial debt recovery process.
More than 58 per cent of respondents to the Sunday Tasmanian’s survey of pensioners say they hold concerns about the automated system, which has been criticised for targeting individuals inaccurately.
Only 15 per cent said they had no concerns, while 36 per cent described themselves as very concerned.
Hundreds of Central Coast households have been caught up in Centrelink’s “robo-debt” debacle which has left many of the region’s battling welfare recipients unfairly accused of cheating the system.
[...]
“The government is stealing from people,” Opposition human services spokeswoman Linda Burney said.
External debt collectors hired by Centrelink as part of the government's controversial automated debt recovery program are being paid a commission for each debt they recover, a Senate inquiry has been told.
The Australian Taxation Office says the "robo-debt" debacle is not its fault and it is unhappy being publicly linked with Centrelink's controversial debt-recovery program.
Senior ATO officials told a Senate committee investigating robodebt on Wednesday that the ATO simply handed its data on taxpayers over to Centrelink's parent department, Human Services, which then used an automated system to raise debts.
Almost 85,000 welfare recipients were forced to repay Centrelink debts in the two months leading up to Christmas, new figures show.
Department of Human Services secretary Kathryn Campbell defended the need to call in debts over the Christmas period during a senate inquiry into the Centrelink “robo-debt” recovery scheme today.
Ms Campbell also blamed the level of media scrutiny on the scheme in January for escalating public concern and the amount of calls to Centrelink.
Department officials were also asked to address reports that a Centrelink recipient took their own life due to their concern about the debt they owed.
The Australian Tax Office (ATO) has sought to distance itself from Centrelink's controversial debt recovery program, telling a Senate inquiry it cannot be held accountable for how its data is used.
Centrelink's bungled robodebt recovery program will be investigated by a Senate committee today, with representatives from the tax office and department of human services among those to be grilled.
Newsflash everybody: Hank Jongen is not the boss of Centrelink.
And the public servant who has acted as front man for the "robo-debt" crisis engulfing the nation's welfare system is not in charge of the Centrelink's giant parent department, Human Services, either.
It has been revealed that thousands of welfare recipients in Australia have collectively been overpaid more than $700 million, with some people abusing the system.