Expansion of data-matching program aimed at scrutinising whether person’s earnings from trusts or family daycare make them ineligible for welfare, government says

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Centrelink has insisted it has no plans to use the automated debt recovery system to target aged pensioners from next week, despite concerns from Labor and some community groups.

From Saturday, Centrelink will expand its data-matching program, which it uses to compare an individual’s reported income to records held by the tax office.

Centrelink will now begin using data-matching to consider whether a person’s earnings from trusts or family daycare make them ineligible for welfare.

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It will also continue to use data-matching to scrutinise a person’s earnings from assets and investments, a measure it hopes will save $980m over three years. But crucially, the department says it will still use humans to manually review discrepancies involving non-employment income.

That sets it apart from the robo-debt system, which automatically begins a debt retrieval process whenever a discrepancy in income is detected through data-matching.

The lack of human oversight was the cause of a significant amount of the criticism of robo-debt.

The departmental spokesman, general manager Hank Jongen, said individuals targeted for non-employment income types would liaise with the department on a specialised 1800 number.

They would not use Centrelink’s online compliance portal, he said.

“The Department of Human Services will not be expanding the current online compliance system from 1 July to include older Australians who have earned income from their assets or investments,” Jongen said.



“The current online system only checks salary and wage income and will continue to be available for salary and wage earners who find this channel the most convenient to complete a review,” he said.



An inquiry into the robo-debt system had raised concerns that it would be expanded to target aged pensioners. Those concerns had been echoed by Labor and others.

Jongen said the expansion of the compliance system from July 1 was aimed at scrutinising earnings from family daycare and trusts. He said few aged pensioners were expected to be earning from those income streams.

“From early July, the department will expand its compliance reviews of income from family daycare and trusts,” she said.

“The department does not expect many pensioners to initially be subject to these expanded measures, due to the nature of the income being reviewed.

“Departmental compliance officers manually review these other forms of income earned.”

The expansion of data-matching was one of a suite of measures announced in last year’s midyear economic and fiscal outlook, which collectively are designed to save $2.1bn over the forward estimates.

Meanwhile, there are conflicting reports about a significant change in staffing at Centrelink, which the union has claimed as a victory.

The Community and Public Sector Union said the department was planning to turn casual roles into 2,000 permanent jobs, mainly in the agency’s troubled call centres.

The national secretary, Nadine Flood, said it would help relieve pressure on an agency that has sustained repeated cuts in recent years – and help end unacceptable waiting times for phone calls to Centrelink.



“People employed casually by DHS already make a valuable contribution, but giving them permanent jobs will mean they receive the comprehensive training that is required to fully help customers through sensitive issues and often complex processes,” Flood said.



“The department deserves congratulations for taking this first step to turn around what has been an unacceptable slide in service standards.”

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But the department has offered a different recruitment figure.

It says it is only recruiting for about 107 roles. A spokeswoman said that was part of “normal business processes”.

The department said it was also looking to “rebalance its staffing profile including ongoing employment”.

“Based on our current staffing levels, and forecast turnover, the department is currently in the process of conducting recruitment of some 107 roles,” she said.

“Further advertising of positions will be dependent on staff turnover and business needs.”

The news comes as the auditor general, Grant Hehir, rejected calls for a specific audit of the debt recovery system. The independent MP Andrew Wilkie made the request last month, but Hehir said the Commonwealth Ombudsman had already considered the system comprehensively.

But he said the issues raised with the debt recovery system may be considered as part of a broader audit of welfare compliance measures in the coming year.

Labor and the CPSU have both sought to characterise Centrelink as an agency in crisis, particularly since problems with its debt recovery system began to emerge late last year.

The agency has shed thousands of jobs in recent years. That includes a reduction in average staffing levels of 4,776 between 2010-11 to 2015-16.

The CPSU said the debt recovery scandal was exacerbated by the pressure on the agency’s resources.

Flood said she expected the permanent roles to provide clear benefits to the department in terms of service delivery.

“DHS has been described as an agency in crisis,” Flood said.“These jobs will help repair that damage, while the department also needs to agree a fair and reasonable outcome to resolve enterprise bargaining and implement the key recommendations of last week’s inquiry report into robo-debt.”

The spokeswoman for DHS said casual and non-ongoing staff would have to apply for the new roles and be considered on merit.