Overpayment?

Debt amount:

$2886

Date debt issued:

Friday, 12 January 2018

Period debt occurred:

August 2014 to June 2016

Has your case been referred to a collection agency?:

Payment Type:

Austudy

Appealing Debt?:

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

I handled the news relatively calmly, I’ve heard that people incur these charges from Centrelink all the time.

It’s an ‘Overpayment by Centrelink’ between the dates given.

I have no idea how they didn’t pick this up in a 2 year period. I would have been better not having this money in the first place than paying it back, because now it just affects my financing.

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

I feel like they are stretched thin. The system is probably shot and needs a revamp, but I guess it just falls to a low budget and staffing. That’s my impression anyway.

Not sure. One thing is for sure though is that they should definetely be more flexible with repayment options, given that it is through no fault of my own and just got out of uni.

Giving a couple of months is pretty poor. The system may be shot but the handling of their error could be way more ethical and less invasive than it is.