I have been on the disability pension for many years. I've been extremely unwell, spent a lot of time in hospital and it has taken a lot of hard work to get to the point where I'm well enough to finally get a part time job, from home.
On the 22nd of December, I proudly reported my first and only income for the fortnight prior. I did all the right things.
On the 28th of December I was issued a debt letter. Apparently they have decided somehow that I then must have failed to report income in the fortnight before my first period of income. I do not know what logic they used to arrive at this conclusion since they know I have never worked before.
Because I am working as a contractor with an overseas company, I get payslips but they only mention that I have completed the work that I've been contracted for for each period, and that the payment has been made into my account. I don't have a contract that states when I started employment.
I have no way of proving that I did *not* earn any income during the period they have sent me a debt letter for. It's one thing to supply payslips to prove that you *did* work, but how do you prove you *don't* have something?
I phoned centrelink and was told that I had to come into the office to discuss this debt in person. On the phone, they said that it must be because my partner had reported on a different day to myself. This has never happened before.
Once I attended the office, the person I spoke to there refused to handle the debt and said that the only way I could talk to them about it was to phone the debt recovery section on the phone, who I had talked to and who had told me to come into the office.
I have paid the debt in the meantime, and am now wondering what steps to take to appeal this and how on earth to prove them wrong. It is only a small debt, but for someone like me who has been struggling financially, $100 is two weeks of food. It isn't something I just have lying around. It is going to make things very, very hard.
I feel completely helpless and disempowered and it makes me scared about what I might experience as I continue to work, as my income is going to differ according to the amount of work I am offered during each contract period so my reported income is going to differ from fortnight to fortnight.