Senate report in to Centrelink's automated debt recovery system due
21 June 2017
ABC Radio National
A senate inquiry in to Centrelink's controversial robo-debt recovery scheme will reveal its findings later today.
AUDIO
personal stories
Robo-debt And Denial: The Protocols Of Centrelink
21 June 2017
New Matilda
This is the third feature in Ben Eltham’s 2017 investigation into Centrelink’s robo-debt program. The first article in the series was published in January, and the second article in March.
Centrelink’s sprawling data-matching empire is opaque, error-prone and almost completely impossible to understand, writes Ben Eltham. And it’s expanding across government programs and agencies.
[...]
After listening to weeks of harrowing testimony, Siewert has found the Senate Inquiry a draining experience.
“You come out of those hearings and you feel really drained. The evidence we hear is very distressing – hearing of people’s experiences and feeling their sense of powerlessness and despair.”
Senate inquiry calls for Centrelink robo-debt system to be suspended until fixed
21 June 2017
Guardian
A Senate inquiry has called for Centrelink’s controversial automated debt recovery system to be suspended until its many flaws can be resolved.
The inquiry released its report on Wednesday night, which made 21 recommendations for fixing the robo-debt system.
The inquiry has urged all debts calculated using the error-prone “income averaging” process to be reassessed. It also called for a redesign of the system with a robust risk assessment process.
Centrelink debt collectors threatened to seize wages, inquiry told
3 April 2017
Guardian
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
Centrelink recalled 'robo debts' from collection agency as ministers defended system
26 April 2017
Guardian
Centrelink began recalling all the “robo debts” it had sent to one of its external debt collection agencies in early January, an inquiry has heard, at the same time as federal ministers were publicly refuting suggestions the recovery process was unfair or inaccurate.
Centrelink 'An Unworkable Mess', Employee Tells Robodebt Inquiry
28 March 2017
Huffington Post
Welfare clients tell of stress, depression, anger over controversial debt collection.
Welfare recipients say Centrelink robo-debt system left them stressed and afraid
28 March 2017
Guardian
Centrelink ‘have the power of destroying your life’, says one recipient in submission to Senate inquiry on automated debt recovery system.
Centrelink's robo-copout
23 February 2017
Latrobe Valley Express
Churchill resident Kate Zizys can empathise with Centrelink clients affected by 'robo-debt' orders for money they may not owe.
Having been in the Centrelink system on and off for most of her adult life, Ms Zizys has been forced to make inflated repayments in the past, despite going to appeal.
'Contact Centrelink': Attorney-General's non-solution into benefits confusion bemuses audience
21 February 2017
Yahoo7 News
As fed-up Australians demand answers from the seemingly unreachable Centrelink department, Attorney General George Brandis has bemused a television audience with his potential solution – “contact Centrelink”.
Centrelink's outsourced debt collection accused of claiming to be Aus. Gov.
21 February 2017
Triple J Hack
A young doctor says a private debt collection agency chasing her Centrelink debt misleadingly claimed to be the Australian Government.
It's the latest allegation that debt collectors appointed by the Government are using aggressive tactics to get money from Australians targeted by robo-debts.
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