Payments more inaccurate than Services Australia claims
Sept 1, 2023 7:59:56 GMT 7
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Post by bear on Sept 1, 2023 7:59:56 GMT 7
Centrelink payments much more inaccurate than Services Australia claims, audit office finds
Australian National Audit Office says nearly one in five payments to recipients are wrong despite Services Australia giving itself close to full marks
Services Australia has been accused of incorrectly giving itself near full marks in its reporting of payment accuracy to recipients.
New figures from the Australian National Audit Office show nearly one in five of those receiving welfare support payments are being paid incorrectly, with the government watchdog recommending Services Australia develop more reliable reporting methods.
One in four welfare claims were not processed within the agency’s own deadlines, the report found.
Centrelink signage
Services Australia backtracks after ‘unfair’ approach to botched child support assessments
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The agency in charge of Centrelink centres was audited to determine whether it is ensuring recipients are receiving “the right payment at the right time”.
Services Australia and its processes have been in sharp focus after scathing findings made by the royal commission into the robodebt scheme, which found it had unlawfully issued debts through a method of “income averaging”.
The ANAO’s report, released on Thursday, said the welfare agency had reported it accurately paid those receiving support payments 98.9% of the time.
But the audit office’s independent probe showed it was 81.4%.
Of that figure, the report found 13.5% had been overpayments while 5% represented underpayments to welfare recipients.
The discrepancy in the two figures is due to Service Australia’s method of reporting, which the Department of Social Services described as “biased and incomplete” in early 2021.
The agency removes incorrect payments originating from recipient errors from its final reporting figure. For example, if a recipient failed to update Services Australia about changed circumstances and an incorrect payment was made, it will not feature as part of its final percentage.
Over the 2021-22 financial year, there was $7.2bn in overpayments – representing 6% of total payments – while there was $514m in underpayments.
A breakdown of the overpayments showed $468.8m were due to a change in a partner’s income.
The report recommended Services Australia develop a “reliable and unbiased” performance measure, saying it would include statistics within its control – such as administrative errors – as well as those within its influence, such as recipient fraud or mistakes.
But the agency disagreed with the recommendation, saying it would not include recipient-based errors into its reporting as it was not relevant to Service Australia’s administrative performance.
Timeliness of payments was also a concern for auditors, with the report finding “the current methodology for monitoring payment timeliness is not robust”.
Australian National Audit Office says nearly one in five payments to recipients are wrong despite Services Australia giving itself close to full marks
Services Australia has been accused of incorrectly giving itself near full marks in its reporting of payment accuracy to recipients.
New figures from the Australian National Audit Office show nearly one in five of those receiving welfare support payments are being paid incorrectly, with the government watchdog recommending Services Australia develop more reliable reporting methods.
One in four welfare claims were not processed within the agency’s own deadlines, the report found.
Centrelink signage
Services Australia backtracks after ‘unfair’ approach to botched child support assessments
Read more
The agency in charge of Centrelink centres was audited to determine whether it is ensuring recipients are receiving “the right payment at the right time”.
Services Australia and its processes have been in sharp focus after scathing findings made by the royal commission into the robodebt scheme, which found it had unlawfully issued debts through a method of “income averaging”.
The ANAO’s report, released on Thursday, said the welfare agency had reported it accurately paid those receiving support payments 98.9% of the time.
But the audit office’s independent probe showed it was 81.4%.
Of that figure, the report found 13.5% had been overpayments while 5% represented underpayments to welfare recipients.
The discrepancy in the two figures is due to Service Australia’s method of reporting, which the Department of Social Services described as “biased and incomplete” in early 2021.
The agency removes incorrect payments originating from recipient errors from its final reporting figure. For example, if a recipient failed to update Services Australia about changed circumstances and an incorrect payment was made, it will not feature as part of its final percentage.
Over the 2021-22 financial year, there was $7.2bn in overpayments – representing 6% of total payments – while there was $514m in underpayments.
A breakdown of the overpayments showed $468.8m were due to a change in a partner’s income.
The report recommended Services Australia develop a “reliable and unbiased” performance measure, saying it would include statistics within its control – such as administrative errors – as well as those within its influence, such as recipient fraud or mistakes.
But the agency disagreed with the recommendation, saying it would not include recipient-based errors into its reporting as it was not relevant to Service Australia’s administrative performance.
Timeliness of payments was also a concern for auditors, with the report finding “the current methodology for monitoring payment timeliness is not robust”.
It determined a change in the way Services Australia reported timeliness had left the process more biased.
The ANAO report said the methodology change in 2020 had provided “a significant increase in Services Australia’s timeliness results that was not reflective of improved performance”.
Auditors could only replicate 72.6% of the timeliness figures provided by Services Australia.
Earlier this week, the commonwealth ombudsman released a report detailing how Services Australia’s poor IT systems had resulted in errors in up to 47,488 child support assessments.
The ombudsman said it had intervened in a plan by the welfare agency to avoid notifying about a third of the caseload.
Services Australia’s spokesperson, Hank Jongen, said the agency was now contacting 12,000 former customers whose child support payments may have been affected.
In August, Guardian Australia revealed prosecutors had paused 32 criminal cases and were investigating possible wrongful convictions due to Services Australia relying on an incorrect understanding of welfare law.
www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/aug/31/centrelink-payments-much-more-inaccurate-than-services-australia-claims-audit-office-finds
The ANAO report said the methodology change in 2020 had provided “a significant increase in Services Australia’s timeliness results that was not reflective of improved performance”.
Auditors could only replicate 72.6% of the timeliness figures provided by Services Australia.
Earlier this week, the commonwealth ombudsman released a report detailing how Services Australia’s poor IT systems had resulted in errors in up to 47,488 child support assessments.
The ombudsman said it had intervened in a plan by the welfare agency to avoid notifying about a third of the caseload.
Services Australia’s spokesperson, Hank Jongen, said the agency was now contacting 12,000 former customers whose child support payments may have been affected.
In August, Guardian Australia revealed prosecutors had paused 32 criminal cases and were investigating possible wrongful convictions due to Services Australia relying on an incorrect understanding of welfare law.
www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/aug/31/centrelink-payments-much-more-inaccurate-than-services-australia-claims-audit-office-finds