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Post by krystal on Jan 16, 2017 23:13:14 GMT 7
AN Australian of the Year finalist has also become embroiled in the Centrelink debt recovery debacle, after being sent an incorrect debt notice due to the automatic debt recovery system.
Queensland medical researcher Dr Janet Hammill, who works voluntarily and lives off the age pension, was sent a debt notice for $7600, The Guardian reports.
The 76-year-old had reportedly received a $26,000 research over parts of 2011 and 2012, which she fully reported to Centrelink at the time.
But the system appears to have averaged the grant across 2012 and deemed her overpaid.
But Centrelink’s automated debt recovery system appears to have averaged the grant across all 26 fortnights of 2012, before deeming her to have been significantly overpaid.
Hammill said she had struggled to contact anyone at Centrelink.
“You feel so helpless, I mean for heaven’s sakes, you can look through my CV and see that I’m not helpless,” Hammill told The Guardian.
“But this puts you into another category of disempowerment. I can just imagine somebody who is not computer literate or is just managing to get by day to day, it’s just been so terribly frustrating,” she said.
“They made me feel as though I’m some sort of cheat, and I haven’t had an income since April 2012.”
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Post by Deleted on Jan 17, 2017 7:10:37 GMT 7
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Post by Banjo on Jan 17, 2017 9:05:24 GMT 7
Dear Diary: Centrelink's #notmydebt fiascoPosted January 17, 2017 I’m a community lawyer, and I provide help to people with a range of legal problems, which can include social security. One of the most common issues that clients presented with was overpayments. Despite the recent increase in stories about inaccurate social security debts, particularly debts arising from data cross-matches, my view is that this is not a new problem. It is not uncommon for Centrelink to inaccurately assess someone as having received an overpayment of social security benefits. One client had a debt raised against her as the result of inaccurate data matching from the ATO. While I was able to ultimately resolve this issue, it took approximately 5-6 months of phone calls, letters and nagging Centrelink to do so, and this was one of the simpler cases. My colleagues also had a number of more complex matters, some of which proceeded through both levels of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. It’s easy to see how people would simply give up. The Social Security Act imposes a positive obligation on payment recipients to ensure that they have provided all the accurate information to Centrelink and that they are accurately assessed; it’s a “guilty until proven innocent” system. From this comes the fact that if someone is inaccurately assessed, they are taken to have committed social security fraud. This is completely contrary to the traditional idea of fraud, which is that it must be a positive act; in social security, if you make a simple error, it’s still fraud. In fact, the legislation prohibits the decision maker from taking the issue of intent into consideration when deciding to raise a debt. Of course, most everyday people have no idea about this. The Social Security Act is extremely complex, even for lawyers. Most people simply rely on Centrelink’s assessment and take their word that it’s correct. The major issue to consider, aside from the debts themselves, is the ancillary consequences to a person of having a Centrelink debt raised. As mentioned above, the default position, even in the case of an honest mistake, is that it is fraud. This can impact not only the person’s short-term income, but their employment. Lawyers are a perfect example; social security overpayments are a disclosable matter when applying for admission and the duty of disclosure is ongoing beyond admission. This is the sort of matter that will prevent someone being admitted, or cause them to be struck off. This is the case regardless of whether the overpayment has been repaid. Even worse than this is the potential for criminal prosecution. While this is by no means a hard-and-fast rule, in my experience people start to be prosecuted at around the $5,000 mark, or if they’re a serial offender. The penalties vary hugely, but when they start to get high, you can be looking at imprisonment. The concern I (and many of my colleagues) have, is that once people have a debt raised against them, they often self-incriminate. Centrelink has a system where they invite someone in for a meeting to “discuss” the matter and “see if it can be resolved”. This is basically a fact-finding mission and there is never any benefit to a person in attending. People believe that it’s compulsory and they believe that it will sort things out for them. It’s not and it won’t. People take the invitation to discuss the matter at face value and are not vigilant in protecting their interests. This whole process goes against the long entrenched common law concept of privilege against self-incrimination. Despite this, many community organisations actively encourage people to engage with Centrelink and attend this interview when Centrelink raises a debt against them. It’s incredibly hard to build a case for someone who has gone along to an interview and dug themselves into a hole. In my view, community organisations who do not regularly practice in or understand social security should refrain from giving advice on overpayments and should refer people for legal advice. The organisation should only assist after a person has received legal advice (and of course assuming that assistance is in their interests). From a lawyer at TASC National, a community legal centre servicing Toowoomba, Ipswich, and the South West Region communitylegalqld.org.au/news/dear-diary-centrelinks-notmydebt-fiasco
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Post by bunyip on Jan 17, 2017 10:44:08 GMT 7
With these debt notices the bastards said they are now turning their attention to the disabled www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/pensioners-and-disabled-next-in-line-in-centrelink-robo-debt-campaign/ar-AAlVyJk?li=AAavLaF&ocid=spartandhp Their computer is sending out 1.7 million debt notices out like spam. Even though l've done nothing wrong l'm worried about getting one of these fake debt notices like alot of other innocent people and having to go through the stress of proving myself innocent. Is it only people who have had employment income that have something to worry about,? what about someone who hasn't worked in 20 years, could they go after you on things like small amounts of bank interest or shares or dividends or is it only employment income they go after?
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Post by Deleted on Jan 17, 2017 11:44:51 GMT 7
Australian people governed by liars cheats and thieves above the same laws applied to the slaves
Australia's judicature has a flawless motto that goes along the line of that no one is above the law, but this is all great in theory, where there is another reality.
Let's put this into perspective where the simple folk can understand.
If a person from the masses is on welfare, meaning payments in order to live obtained from the taxpayers, and cheats the 'system', there are penalties and a real scenario of imprisonment for fraud / theft and whatever other offences the prosecution can add on.
So what happens when a 'leader', politician, law maker, your local MP obtains payments in order to live from the taxpayers and commits fraud / theft against the people?
Well from current mainstream media reports, not much.
So, they get 'stood down'. Big deal. They still get to keep their fat parliamentary pension. They may even be given another portfolio by their buddies.
The reality is that the executive treats the people of this colony as its slaves, as seen by the executive's actions where in all cases (bar a few) they are above the law when it comes to criminal offences of theft or fraud or other Commonwealth offences, where their 'brethren' in the judicature keep them out of prison.
When the slaves "cook the books" e.g. against the ATO (Australian Tax Office), there is an encroachment into the bank account and monies (alleged debt) are withdrawn, unlawfully where the victim never sees the garnishee notice.
No such 'luck' with the criminals in the offices of the executive.
The social security company Centrelink delegated to providing welfare for its recipients fraudulently wrote tens of thousands of letters per week for false debts the recipients never had in the first place, and placed the "guilty until proven innocent" law into action that prevails in Australia, then passing on the alleged debt to a debt collector again unlawfully, without the recipient ever seeing the garnishee notice.
Centrelink then made it difficult for people to contact them by removing phone numbers from contact lists.
Are these the actions of an honest business?
Again a case of fraudulent actions by the executive without consequence or liability.
The $64,000 question could be:
Would a lawmaker really want to make new laws that exposes themselves and their defrauding brethren in office?
Australians are truly governed by criminal scum in office.
Let's see how the colonialists "cook the books"
Corpau
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Post by Deleted on Jan 17, 2017 12:57:20 GMT 7
Disabled will need advocates for sure in this because some may not realise they need to dispute the claims they could get.
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Post by Banjo on Jan 17, 2017 14:04:30 GMT 7
Families, pensioners and disabled next on Centrelink's hit list The Coalition government is going to target more than 3 million of elderly and disabled Australians with its controversial Centrelink "robo-debt" campaign, Parliamentary documents show. The mid-year economic forecast tables published last week shows the government has booked savings of $1.1 billion from data-matching the aged pension and another $400 million from the disability support pension. The tables also show the government believes it cam claw back another $700 million from hundreds of thousands of Australian families who receive parenting payment or have been paid the benefit in the past. The moves could bring up to four million more Australians into the sights of the data-matching program, which uses an automated system to match information held by Centrelink and the Australian Taxation Office and calculate overpayments. Read more... www.smh.com.au/national/public-service/pensioners-and-disabled-next-in-line-in-centrelink-robodebt-campaign-20170116-gtsov2.htmlThis should be election suicide, some Age pensioners would certainly have complex incomes depending on how any interest or dividends they receive is paid.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 17, 2017 14:23:17 GMT 7
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Post by Denis-NFA on Jan 17, 2017 16:41:14 GMT 7
Just to remind forum members to keep an eye on your personal details because they tried to stitch me up with someone's earnings from Cape York.
Complete and utter bulltish as it was after I left Australia in August 2013 and I have never been back.
Because I have yay whatever 'credit' earnings it didn't affect my payment but given what the arzholes are doing now I wonder what might have happened.
And it took me 'some' time for them to reverse the post.
In the end I said I would take Hank and the minister to court for fraud and suddenly it disappeared.
Never give up.
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Post by Banjo on Jan 17, 2017 16:52:57 GMT 7
Just to remind forum members to keep an eye on your personal details because they tried to stitch me up with someone's earnings from Cape York. Complete and utter bulltish as it was after I left Australia in August 2013 and I have never been back. Because I have yay whatever 'credit' earnings it didn't affect my payment but given what the arzholes are doing now I wonder what might have happened. And it took me 'some' time for them to reverse the post. In the end I said I would take Hank and the minister to court for fraud and suddenly it disappeared. Never give up. Been a bad week Denis, I'm allowing bullshit.
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Post by Denis-NFA on Jan 17, 2017 17:09:41 GMT 7
Been a bad week Denis, I'm allowing bullshit. Thanks mate. Lots of times I get frustrated trying to say something proper.
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Post by nomadic on Jan 17, 2017 18:45:53 GMT 7
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Post by nomadic on Jan 17, 2017 18:46:23 GMT 7
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Post by krystal on Jan 17, 2017 19:32:57 GMT 7
Okay sure, talking to Welfare Groups might get them an overview on the impacts but why don't they talk to the people that it has affected.
You want to know about the impact? Call for submissions from the public, ask the people who have been impacted.
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Post by struggling on Jan 17, 2017 19:33:24 GMT 7
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