The federal government is standing by its controversial Centrelink debt recovery system despite widespread criticism.
Human Services Minister Alan Tudge insists the automated process is not flawed, saying more than $300 million worth of overpayments has been correctly recouped.
“The system is working and we will continue with that system,” he told ABC radio this morning.
Human Services Minister Alan Tudge says the Government will not scrap Centrelink's debt-recovery system, despite ongoing warnings over inaccuracies.
Human Services Minister Alan Tudge says the Government will not scrap Centrelink’s debt-recovery system, despite ongoing warnings over inaccuracies.
The human services minister’s comments came in his first interview since returning from holiday. While he was away, an enormous controversy engulfed Centrelink as scores of people reported receiving letters asking them to pay back money they didn’t owe.
Linda Burney is the Opposition's human services spokeswoman and she joins me on the line.
Linda Burney, good morning.
AUDIO with full transcript
'The system is working and we will continue with that system', he says.
AUDIO
There’s a stink of injustice emanating from the federal government’s latest attempt to stick its hands in the pockets of Australian citizens.
The Department of Human Services issued an unwelcome Christmas greeting to thousands of people late last year, as it sent debt notices across the nation in an effort to claim back overpayments from welfare agency Centrelink – many dating back several years.
Why stop digging when we've only just started?
Australia's Human Services Minister Alan Tudge has finally weighed in on the country's Centrelink debacle, having returned from holidays with a sheet full of talking points.
Speaking to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the minister denied there was any problem, said he wasn't aware of the system creating any false debts, and denied that anybody has been asked to pay back debts they don't owe.
Given the current furore over the Centrelink debt-recovery debacle, this is a fascinating reminder of how far politics has shifted since then. Despite exploiting fears about Labor's supposed "socialist objective", Menzies expanded social welfare to introduce the pharmaceutical benefits scheme, increased support for age pensioners and increased unemployment and other benefits.
The government decided to ditch it’s hard-working employers at the Department of Human Services who managed debts owed to Centrelink, despite their warnings that switching to an automated computer system would end in disaster.
Sure enough, it wasn’t long before Centrelink was sending out letters and hounding people for money they simply did not have thanks to a glitch in the system.
“Centrelink is letting me die,” reads graffiti scrawled on the wall of the disabled toilet at a branch in Sydney’s inner west.
That’s the perception of some Australians trying to negotiate a benefits system that appears seriously flawed, where letters slamming people with bogus debts of thousands of dollars were widely distributed over the Christmas period.
Centrelink has been slamming thousands of Australians with inaccurate debt letters for months now, so here’s what to do if you are contacted by the agency.
The National Foundation for Australian Women is profoundly concerned by the Ministerially approved processes for so-called debt-recovery from Centrelink clients, and calls on the Government to cease using the process pending receipt of a report from the Commonwealth Ombudsman.
Centrelink has removed advice telling welfare recipients they only needed to keep payslips for six months, which conflicted with the government’s efforts to claw back debts from up to six years ago.
Staff inside the Centrelink unit responsible for income reviews and eligibility assessments warned officials from the Department of Human Services that automated data matching would lead to incorrect debts being issued to low-income and vulnerable Australians, an insider has revealed.
There is nothing fair about the Turnbull Government's pension cuts and Centrelink crackdowns, no matter how they spin it.
Centrelink staff will not be able to cope in an expected “perfect storm” of customer enquiries arising out of the debt data-matching scandal, the union representing public service workers has warned.
The Community & Public Sector Union has demanded the federal government immediately suspend the automated big data system, which in the past week has been hammered for its lack of accuracy in determining debts.
“This scheme is an absolute nightmare for thousands of Centrelink customers who’ve done absolutely nothing wrong, and the staff who are bearing the brunt of this mess,” said CPSU assistant national secretary Michael Tull.
The public sector union is calling on the federal government to suspend its controversial Centrelink debt recovery system, warning the public will suffer as staff struggle to cope.
Melbourne barrister and spokesperson for Australian Lawyers Alliance Greg Barns told Daily Mail Australia in some cases Centrelink may have breached its duty of care to customers.
People who have been unfairly targeted with inaccurate Centrelink debts could have grounds to sue the government, according to the Australian Lawyers Alliance.
The social services minister, Christian Porter, continued to defend the automated system on Monday, saying the debts being issued were “fairly and legitimately calculated after a very staged and methodical process”.
The commonwealth ombudsman confirmed to Guardian Australia it had initiated its own investigation of the debt recovery system.