Aren’t Centrelink suppose to check with the ato?

Debt amount:

$9000

Date debt issued:

Tuesday, 9 April 2019

Period debt occurred:

July 2014 to August 2016

Has your case been referred to a collection agency?:

Payment Type:

Parenting Payment

Appealing Debt?:

Yes but I lost

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

I received notice of this debt one day after my oldest daughters 16th, my heart just dropped. I look at the dates and it’s basically when I became a single parent. I don’t understand how I got a debt when I report fortnightly and at tax return time don’t Centrelink and the ato cross reference each other? I also received another debt a month later. It’s just horrible having this hang over my head and I just think if I was overpaid, then I was suppose to be getting paid less and I can barely get by as it is and then I’m just like omg we could’ve ended up homeless

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

I feel that they’ve targeted me and vulnerable people like me knowing that a lot of people will just give up and not fight it because it’s so complicated and hard to understand the process