I used to contract for work and would have spates of work then not. I then went to uni In between and was eligible for Austudy and took a causal job to pay bills. However the periods of contract work meant that I would balloon an income at varying times of the year, so when they undertook their robodebt process this then lumped my contract work income (outside of Austudy periods of benefits) to overlay it with Austudy - making it seem like I was falsifying my claims. This contracting payment was part of my means testing and assessment prior to application of Austudy but was not taken into consideration when they built this debt.
Absolutely horribly. I was travelling when the first notice from Centrelink come through. By the time I had returned home it had already been referred to a debt collection agency and I couldn’t get hold of anyone at Centrelink to dispute. So just entered into a payment plan until I could find the time to source payslips.