They called me saying that there is income discrepancy from ATO and my centrelink, however I was 120% sure I've updated my income statement with centrelink, but when I check with them after receiving the letter they said the amount for $0. I was adamant but as I don't have any paper work from back then I was unable to appeal and prove that it was their mistake. I now owe centrelink $3500.
This has cause extreme anxiety and stress for me as i have just purchased an apartment and will have to pay mortgage, as well as credit card debt, car repayment and day to day expenses. I had to cancel my gym membership and various subscription services to recoup the expenses, as well as stop going out to social event as i don't have enough money to do so.
I feel like the government didn't care - that as long as they get money they don't care what havoc they wreak on people's life. It was their mistake that cause this debacle, centrelink should not be able to strong-arm people, many of them were on welfare and youth allowance that didn't earn a lot to start off with, to pay back a debt that wasn't even their fault to start with.
For my case, centrelink definitely made a mistake, whether its a system error or operator error, and now its me that has to pay for it.