$29K??? Insensitive and wrong.

Debt amount:

$29000

Date debt issued:

Monday, 10 December 2018

Has your case been referred to a collection agency?:

Payment Type:

Youth Allowance

Appealing Debt?:

Unknown

Tell us about your debt and how has this affected you? e.g. anxiety levels, financial and accommodation stress:

Was phoned yesterday by centrelink, the young lady on the phone said, "I am averaging out your income across the year."

I have always earned very little, and have definitely been entitled to my centrelink payments as often i earn under $450 a fortnight.

I would go through phases where i would earn more than this, for example in university holidays I would work more to be able to afford to live in Melbourne as i have relocated from the country to study. In these instances I would earn $1000-$1500 a fortnight however this only happened a couple of times, and i reported all of this online in the fortnightly reporting process.

After she "entered some numbers into the system" she calmly tells me I owe $29K?????
She then told me her shift was about to finish, and unfortunately had to end the phone call.

How do you feel about the way the Government has handled this process?:

Insensitive and wrong.