Centrelink's debt notices still cause stress and confusion
Jul 19, 2023 6:45:49 GMT 7
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Post by bear on Jul 19, 2023 6:45:49 GMT 7
Robotdebt is dead, but welfare recipients say Centrelink debt notices still cause stress and confusion.
Welfare recipients say they are being asked to pay up without being told the cause of the overpayment.
Robodebt may have been dumped, but carers, pensioners and parents receiving childcare support say Centrelink's debt recovery processes are still causing distress and confusion.
Key points:
Some welfare recipients have been unable to find out why they owe Centrelink money
Centrelink says they are making changes to debt letters to include more information
It comes after a royal commission found the Robodebt scheme was a saga of " incompetence and cowardice"
Debt notices are routinely sent out with little information about how the amount was calculated using "semi-threatening" language, advocates for welfare recipients say.
A royal commission into the unlawful Robodebt scheme handed down its final report earlier this month, finding the use of income-averaging to raise debts was an "extraordinary saga" of "venality, incompetence and cowardice".
In the wake of the damning royal commission findings, advocates for welfare recipients say the scheme may have ended in 2019, but changes to Centrelink's processes are still needed.
Welfare Rights Centre chief executive officer Katherine Boyle told ABC Radio Sydney there had been improvements such as no longer using debt collectors, but problems persisted in the way Centrelink chases debts.
"Robodebt is dead but people feel like they have a robodebt," Ms Boyle said.
"That feeling of being chased after, persecuted, confused, that hasn't actually changed."
No explanation
Many people have told the ABC about receiving debt notices with no explanation of how the sum they owed was calculated.
Meredith Davies' husband receives a disability support pension.
A year ago, the Warners Bay couple received a letter advising them there had been an overpayment of more than $600 and the amount would be deducted from future payments.
Twelve months later and after numerous phone calls, including help from their local federal MP's office, and they still have no further information.
"If they can't give you a good reason for the overpayment, they shouldn't be asking for it," Ms Davies said.
She suspects the debt could relate to the number of hours she worked, but no one from Centrelink has been able to confirm this.
Steve, who did not want to use his last name, recently received a demand for $5,000, after receiving too much in childcare subsidies in 2021.
He has been given one month to pay up.
Steve said luckily he could afford to pay it back.
But he was concerned for other people in the same situation.
"There's just nothing for you to see if this is correct or not," he said.
Punished for trying to do the right thing
Alison Halls' father, 88, is a carer for her mother, 87, who has Parkinson's disease.
When her mother was in hospital, Ms Halls logged the dates with Centrelink on behalf of her father.
But soon after, Centrelink sent a letter threatening to cut off his carer allowance if he did not contact them within 14 days.
She said there was no reference in the letter to what the issue was about.
"My dad rang five times, I rang twice — every time that phone call ended with, 'We've got too many calls at the moment, we can't take yours, can you please ring back?'"
Ms Boyle said cases like this were all too common.
"People are trying to do the right thing — a lot of the debt that we see is actually caused by Centrelink error," she said.
"So people are reporting changes in their circumstances and for whatever reason it's not acted on and as a result, they get a debt.
"And those debts can be incredibly hard to waive."
Pension cut off
When Neil Glick rang to change his address with Centrelink, he did not anticipate the call would result in his pension being cut off.
The 75-year-old had downsized from a house to a unit in Willoughby in Sydney's north and did not realise the proceeds from the sale of a home could impact his pension.
He was happy to cooperate and provide additional information as requested, but said he was treated like a cheat.
"[The Centrelink employee] had in her mind that, you know, guilty until proven innocent," Mr Glick said.
His pension was cut off for three months, before it was resolved.
"I had enough to be able to survive financially, but for others, it would be even more terrifying," he said.
Plans to add information
In 2021-22 Services Australia raised 1.6 million debts.
"This is a small proportion of the approximately 10 million customer interactions the agency has on a weekly basis," a spokesperson for the government agency said.
They said changes were made in December 2022 to improve debt letters.
"We're making further changes to include more detailed information on how a debt occurred," the spokesperson said.
"When our staff raise a debt, they’ll attempt to contact the customer by phone to discuss the debt."
The spokesperson said wait times on the debt recovery line were down to about three minutes.
"We're sorry to hear people are having trouble reaching us," they said.
Ms Boyle estimated thousands of debt notices were sent out every day and many of the recipients were vulnerable people.
"It's not reasonable to expect people who have a disability, who are victims of domestic violence who might be experiencing homelessness, to engage in the same way," she said.
"The problems are so systemic, so deep, so long term that it's going to take a while to fix Centrelink, so it's actually serving the people as it should."
www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-19/centrelink-debts-still-cause-frustration-confusion-post-robodebt/102614538
Welfare recipients say they are being asked to pay up without being told the cause of the overpayment.
Robodebt may have been dumped, but carers, pensioners and parents receiving childcare support say Centrelink's debt recovery processes are still causing distress and confusion.
Key points:
Some welfare recipients have been unable to find out why they owe Centrelink money
Centrelink says they are making changes to debt letters to include more information
It comes after a royal commission found the Robodebt scheme was a saga of " incompetence and cowardice"
Debt notices are routinely sent out with little information about how the amount was calculated using "semi-threatening" language, advocates for welfare recipients say.
A royal commission into the unlawful Robodebt scheme handed down its final report earlier this month, finding the use of income-averaging to raise debts was an "extraordinary saga" of "venality, incompetence and cowardice".
In the wake of the damning royal commission findings, advocates for welfare recipients say the scheme may have ended in 2019, but changes to Centrelink's processes are still needed.
Welfare Rights Centre chief executive officer Katherine Boyle told ABC Radio Sydney there had been improvements such as no longer using debt collectors, but problems persisted in the way Centrelink chases debts.
"Robodebt is dead but people feel like they have a robodebt," Ms Boyle said.
"That feeling of being chased after, persecuted, confused, that hasn't actually changed."
No explanation
Many people have told the ABC about receiving debt notices with no explanation of how the sum they owed was calculated.
Meredith Davies' husband receives a disability support pension.
A year ago, the Warners Bay couple received a letter advising them there had been an overpayment of more than $600 and the amount would be deducted from future payments.
Twelve months later and after numerous phone calls, including help from their local federal MP's office, and they still have no further information.
"If they can't give you a good reason for the overpayment, they shouldn't be asking for it," Ms Davies said.
She suspects the debt could relate to the number of hours she worked, but no one from Centrelink has been able to confirm this.
Steve, who did not want to use his last name, recently received a demand for $5,000, after receiving too much in childcare subsidies in 2021.
He has been given one month to pay up.
Steve said luckily he could afford to pay it back.
But he was concerned for other people in the same situation.
"There's just nothing for you to see if this is correct or not," he said.
Punished for trying to do the right thing
Alison Halls' father, 88, is a carer for her mother, 87, who has Parkinson's disease.
When her mother was in hospital, Ms Halls logged the dates with Centrelink on behalf of her father.
But soon after, Centrelink sent a letter threatening to cut off his carer allowance if he did not contact them within 14 days.
She said there was no reference in the letter to what the issue was about.
"My dad rang five times, I rang twice — every time that phone call ended with, 'We've got too many calls at the moment, we can't take yours, can you please ring back?'"
Ms Boyle said cases like this were all too common.
"People are trying to do the right thing — a lot of the debt that we see is actually caused by Centrelink error," she said.
"So people are reporting changes in their circumstances and for whatever reason it's not acted on and as a result, they get a debt.
"And those debts can be incredibly hard to waive."
Pension cut off
When Neil Glick rang to change his address with Centrelink, he did not anticipate the call would result in his pension being cut off.
The 75-year-old had downsized from a house to a unit in Willoughby in Sydney's north and did not realise the proceeds from the sale of a home could impact his pension.
He was happy to cooperate and provide additional information as requested, but said he was treated like a cheat.
"[The Centrelink employee] had in her mind that, you know, guilty until proven innocent," Mr Glick said.
His pension was cut off for three months, before it was resolved.
"I had enough to be able to survive financially, but for others, it would be even more terrifying," he said.
Plans to add information
In 2021-22 Services Australia raised 1.6 million debts.
"This is a small proportion of the approximately 10 million customer interactions the agency has on a weekly basis," a spokesperson for the government agency said.
They said changes were made in December 2022 to improve debt letters.
"We're making further changes to include more detailed information on how a debt occurred," the spokesperson said.
"When our staff raise a debt, they’ll attempt to contact the customer by phone to discuss the debt."
The spokesperson said wait times on the debt recovery line were down to about three minutes.
"We're sorry to hear people are having trouble reaching us," they said.
Ms Boyle estimated thousands of debt notices were sent out every day and many of the recipients were vulnerable people.
"It's not reasonable to expect people who have a disability, who are victims of domestic violence who might be experiencing homelessness, to engage in the same way," she said.
"The problems are so systemic, so deep, so long term that it's going to take a while to fix Centrelink, so it's actually serving the people as it should."
www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-19/centrelink-debts-still-cause-frustration-confusion-post-robodebt/102614538