MP Andrew Wilkie calls for system’s suspension, saying he has received more than 100 complaints – including from four people who were suicidal

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Senior levels of government would have known the risks posed by Centrelink’s new automated debt recovery system before it was rolled out, according to a former high-ranking departmental official.

The welfare compliance system continues to face sustained criticism this week, and the independent MP Andrew Wilkie on Wednesday renewed calls for it to be suspended, saying his office had fielded more than 100 complaints, including from four individuals who were suicidal.

Australians with a disability say they have been chased by debt collectors over inaccurate debts, and the Australian has reported that the visa status of asylum seekers has been threatened in instances of non-payment.



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The main focus of complaints continues to be on the system’s automated comparison of an individual’s reported income to Centrelink and information held by the Australian Taxation Office.

The Department of Human Services source, who is no longer with the agency, told Guardian Australia the risks of using the automated data matching system in such a fashion would have been known at senior levels before it was rolled out.

“Knowing the process, a risk assessment would have been done,” they said. “The risks would have been discussed at very senior levels. The minister would have been briefed – if he wasn’t, it would be extremely rare.”

The source said using data matching to detect potential overpayments could work but it needed manual oversight to ensure flaws and inaccuracies were weeded out.

Before July, Centrelink staff manually checked discrepancies and followed up with customers via telephone and letter, a process that was stopped to allow the government to ramp up its efforts to claw back $4bn of debt in the next four years.



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The human services minister, Alan Tudge, remains on leave. Asked whether either Tudge or the social services minister, Christian Porter, had been briefed on the potential risks of the system, a spokesman for Porter said: “Minister Tudge has been constantly briefed on the success of the compliance system which, as minister Porter reiterated yesterday, has led to $300m in overpayments being returned to taxpayers with a very low level of complaint.”

The government insists the system is working well, saying 80% of the 169,000 completed reviews resulted in an individual paying back the money.

Porter said the process afforded individuals proper opportunity to clarify their debts and said it was “as reasonable a process as you could possibly derive”.

Wilkie, who raised concerns about the system in early December, criticised Porter’s comments on Wednesday, saying they were at odds with the experience of his office.

Wilkie said the system was driving people to the brink of suicide. One of the more than 100 complaints he had received involved a woman being erroneously told she owed $69,000, more money than she had ever received. When she queried the debt, it was reduced to $3,000, still without explanation.

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“This is a systemic problem, the harm it is causing is very broad,” Wilkie said. “I’ve had people who have approached me who have been frightened, absolutely scared, people who are paying this money because they are so frightened by this very official letter.

“I’ve had four people now approach me in my office who I would describe as presenting as suicidal and in all those cases we’ve taken what action we thought was appropriate.”

Wilkie referred the matter to the commonwealth ombudsman four days before Christmas. He said the ombudsman’s office had now responded and was gathering information.

Senator Nick Xenophon also referred the matter to the ombudsman late last month, and wrote to Tudge to warn that his office was being “inundated” with complaints about the system.

“The fact is, the government stuffed it up, they are treating genuine Centrelink recipients as criminals,” Xenophon said on Wednesday. “They need to apologise and go back to the drawing board. Clearly this is a system that appears to be run by robots and overly automated.”

Last month Guardian Australia spoke with another whistleblower, a Centrelink compliance officer, who said the system was flawed and was treating welfare recipients unfairly. The source said only about 20 of the hundreds of disputed cases they had handled turned out to be genuine debts.

The government has sent out 169,000 letters to welfare recipients since July and plans to expand its debt recovery efforts, including by removing a six-year time limit on retrieval and, in some cases, charging interest, imposing a 10% debt recovery fee and banning travel for those who have not paid.

Before July, staff manually reviewed discrepancies between Centrelink and tax office data.

• Crisis support services can be reached 24 hours a day: Lifeline 13 11 14; Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467. Beyond Blue also provides information and support on 1300 22 4636