news, latest-news

The Coalition has pledged to soften some of the harder edges of its controversial Centrelink "robo-debt" policy. From Wednesday, Centrelink, which has been sending private debt collectors to pursue debts raised under contentious data matching policy, will no longer demand payment for debts that are under review. But the burden of proof will still lie with the welfare agency's clients who must prove that debts generated by the error-riddled system are not theirs. Human Service Minister Alan Tudge said on Tuesday evening that he was making it easier for people to get in touch with Centrelink, a key flashpoint in the controversy, when they are notified of discrepancies that they must resolve. The government has endured a storm of criticism over the recovery program, which uses an automated data-matching program to try to track down people who have been overpaid their welfare benefits, and frustration with the troubled myGov portal has been running high for several years. The government says it will recover up to $4 billion that has been overpaid to Centrelink clients going back many years in some cases, but there has been a harsh public and political backlash over the high error rate in the automatically-generated debts and complaints of heavy-handed tactics by private debt collectors hired to recover what many clients believe are bogus debts. But Mr Tudge says people who have been hit with a robo-debt notice can now confirm their data online without having to first establish a myGov account. The minister says those receiving notices will now be given a special access code to log directly into the online compliance section and enter the required financial information using bank statements which in most cases can be accessed as far back as seven years. The minister also promised simpler language on the website and better screen flow and to ditch a longstanding requirement for people to start repaying debts as soon as they are raised, even if they are trying to appeal what they believe the debt is a bogus debt. "I've recently made the decision to say that, well, if you ask for a review then you don't have to enter into a repayment schedule," Mr Tudge said on Tuesday night. "It's only after the review is completed and you still owe the debt that you'll have to enter into that repayment schedule."

https://nnimgt-a.akamaihd.net/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/5daebb84-678c-4b41-9822-52d3a56f42f3/r0_111_1999_1240_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg