I had no units to study from August 2018 to Nov 2019 but I had one to study in Jan 2019. Still had above 75% full time study load.
I called up Centrelink and asked if there was anything I could to to continue payments. They said yes and nothing happened for a year.
Note, the person who served me didn't take down any notes.
The second debt occured from July to the present date. My course wasn't approved but I received youth allowance, I wasn't aware it wasn't approved. Yet I was told by staff it would be okay, I'll still receive payments.
I'm not stressed, depressed or shattered I'm just frustrated that I have to go through this.
It has however motivated me to kick-start by online business sooner as to have financial independence. Moreover, I'm a student, like I can pay this off in the time they expect it, you get just enough to survive.
They will be waiting several months and if I have my way, years before they get "the debt" back.
This experience also placed a significant strain on my master's degree as I've had to lose a few days to deal with this humbug.
The debt is issued without any questions or clarifications, this is simply an inelegant and suboptimal. The process should be investigative rather than punitive.
I'm also inclined to believe this was pushed by higher ups in the political world due to our economy being weak at the moment.
This also makes me feel like Australia is not quite Australia anymore. The Australia I grew up in would never have adopted such an approach.