Australian Council of Social Service also calls for protection of whistleblowers and end to ‘abuse of government power’

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Malcolm Turnbull has been urged to immediately halt Centrelink’s automated debt recovery system, protect government whistleblowers and end an ongoing “abuse of government power” causing distress and financial hardship to some of Australia’s most vulnerable groups.

The Australian Council of Social Service wrote to the prime minister on the eve of his National Press Club address in Canberra on Wednesday, warning him that the minister responsible for Centrelink, the human services minister Alan Tudge, had failed to respond to the litany of concerns raised by it and other community and legal groups.

The Acoss chief executive, Cassandra Goldie, said she remained concerned at the “ongoing deep human distress and financial pressure” being placed on a significant proportion of the population.

Centrelink unable to track how many overpayments caused by error Read more

“I write to you on an urgent basis to call on you to immediately halt the automated recovery of Centrelink debts to prevent further harm being caused to potentially hundreds of thousands of people who have received a Centrelink payment,” she said.

“The automated program is issuing tens of thousands of incorrect discrepancy notices, which are in many cases leading to inaccurate debt notices. We are deeply concerned that people are paying debts they do not owe or paying a debt higher than what they owe.”

The government has continued to defend the system and dismiss the concerns of a wide range of charities, welfare groups, legal bodies, unions and advocacy services, which have all expressed serious reservations about the accuracy and fairness of the debt recovery system.

Tudge made some changes to the system last month, which were aimed chiefly at ensuring the first letter generated by the automated system was being received. That aimed to prevent recipients being unwittingly lumped with a debt without having a chance to dispute it.

Acoss was critical in its assessment of Tudge’s response to the sector’s concerns. Goldie said she had twice written to the minister since mid-December and had met him in mid-January, but was still without a proper response.

Alan Tudge says Centrelink may check letters received before debt imposed Read more

“The minister is yet to respond to the matters and questions raised in our initial and subsequent letters and is yet to address the core concerns that Acoss as well as a host of individuals, community and legal organisations have with the automated debt recovery program,” she said. “As prime minister, we are now seeking your urgent intervention, in light of the lack of action by the responsible minister.”

The letter to Turnbull came after a day of rallies across Australia on Tuesday. Protesters gathered in Melbourne, Hobart and Adelaide to call for an end to the automated debt recovery system and voice their support for those affected and for Centrelink staff.

The Greens leader, Richard Di Natale, speaking in Melbourne to the biggest of the rallies, described Centrelink’s method of debt recovery as the “epitome of a system that is stacked against ordinary people”.

The Acoss letter called on Turnbull to end the automated recovery system, properly resource Centrelink and convene a round table of stakeholders and experts to design a fairer method of debt collection.

It also called for the system to be the subject of an independent investigation.

Fiona the unemployed bettong tries to call Centrelink. Please hold! | First Dog on the Moon Read more

The commonwealth ombudsman has begun an investigation but has little power to compel change, while a Senate inquiry is also likely to add another layer of scrutiny.

Acoss also called for Turnbull to protect whistleblowers who have spoken of problems with the system. “Acoss has said from the outset that we are not opposed to Centrelink recovering overpayments where they have been made and the recovery of legitimate debts is conducted in a fair and humane manner,” Goldie wrote.

“However, Centrelink has a duty of care to ensure it provides and acts upon correct information and the automated debt recovery program is breaching this duty. It shifts the burden on to individuals to prove they do not have a Centrelink debt without proper internal investigation or verification.”