Jobseekers can now request appointments be carried out over the phone or online, while Centrelink debt recovery continues despite Covid-19

This article is more than 5 months old

This article is more than 5 months old

Welfare recipients will have their mutual obligations relaxed during the coronavirus crisis, but the government has stopped short of heeding calls from Labor, the Greens and social service groups to suspend them entirely.

Facing growing pressure to ease the burden amid a looming economic downturn and increasingly strict social-distancing guidelines, the employment minister, Michaelia Cash, said on Friday the government had adopted a range of measures aimed at making the system more flexible during the Covid-19 outbreak.

These included allowing jobseekers to ask that appointments with employment services providers be conducted online or by phone, and a significant reduction in job search requirements, from a maximum of 20 applications to four per month.

Work for the dole and other group activities that cannot be undertaken online will be suspended.

Cash said the government would keep mutual obligations in place as long as it was in line with official health advice.

“These changes prioritise the welfare of jobseekers but will also help keep those out of work actively engaged and supported to take up critical jobs in demand now, and when the economy recovers,” she said.

Labor, the Greens and organisations including the Australian Council of Social Service and Australian Unemployed Workers Union want a blanket suspension of mutual obligations, which also would ensure welfare recipients did not have their payments cut.

But the government is maintaining a tough posture on welfare compliance, warning that jobseekers who do not attend job interviews or take up work when offered would face penalties.

The UK, known for its harsh benefits system, was set to suspend its mutual obligations requirements for jobseekers on Friday. The Morrison government has pointed to a 14-day exemption that applies only to people who are forced to self-isolate, which can be extended with a medical certificate.

The government most recently suspended mutual obligations during the bushfire crisis. Guardian Australia has reported concerns from welfare recipients – including those who are immunocompromised or exhibiting flu-like symptoms – being forced to attend appointments.

While the relaxation of mutual obligations will be welcomes by welfare groups, some advocates have already warned that jobseekers without internet access will struggle to meet mutual obligations now that libraries and other public facilities have begun to close.

Centrelink has also been asked to stop chasing welfare recipients over potential social security debts, including robodebts, as the government readies a second stimulus package that is expected to place more cash into the hands of low-income Australians.

Although the agency stopped initiating reviews in December under its online compliance – or robodebt – program after settling a federal court challenge, it confirmed that it had not halted its broader debt recovery activities, as has occurred in previous crises.

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Services Australia said people could apply for “flexibility” in repayments if they were suffering hardship.

Guardian Australia has spoken to two people who were contacted by Centrelink this week over unfinalised robodebt reviews, including a laid-off worker who was contacted by the debt recovery team about a debt on the same day she enquired about an application for Newstart, which was renamed JobSeeker on Friday.

This week the Australian Council of Social Service called for a pause to all debt collection.

Centrelink denied there was a link between income support claims and the agency attempting to finalise existing debt reviews under its online income compliance program, infamously labelled robodebt, which is the subject of a federal court challenge.

Olivia, who did not want her surnamed used, was working in the tourism industry but has lost her source of income due to the coronavirus crisis and applied for JobSeeker.

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On Wednesday she called the agency to make further enquiries about getting on to the payment.

“Literally two hours later the customer compliance, basically the debt department, called me about this alleged overpayment from 2014,” she said. “The coincidence of it all was a bit strange.”

Olivia said she was asked to provide old payslips in the next seven days: “The last thing I want to be doing right now is doing the investigation for them when I could have been applying for more jobs all day.”

Services Australia’s spokesman, Hank Jongen, said there was “no link between the application process for income support payments and the agency requesting evidence for an income compliance review”.

Asked if there were any plans to pause debt recovery actions or debt repayments that were automatically garnisheed out of income support payments, Jongen said there had been “no changes to social welfare debt recovery arrangements”.

“However, our staff help people experiencing hardship and complex challenges every day and we’ll continue to consider any special circumstances, including the impacts of Covid-19, on an individual basis,” he said. “We provide flexibility for debt repayments based on the person’s circumstances.

“We encourage anyone who owes a debt, who is vulnerable or in financial hardship, to contact the agency on the dedicated debt phone line 1800 076 072 to discuss their circumstances.”