The Coalition has hit back at Labor’s over its Centrelink Debt Recovery system, saying it’s actually working.
Two Hunter residents today joined thousands of other Australians, claiming they’ve been incorrectly issued with debt notices.
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When I returned to work, I contacted Centrelink to report that I was returning to work and to ask if I needed to go on fortnightly reporting.
I was told that as long as my income estimate was kept up-to-date, I did not need to report fortnightly.
Fast-forward a year – I received a Centrelink Debt for an overpayment of $14,000 because – you guessed it – I had not reported my income fortnightly!
The irony is – you can’t even DO fortnightly reporting unless Centrelink sets the system up so that you CAN report.
So they didn’t activate reporting on my Centrelink customer account, but I received a debt due to non-reporting? Go figure!
By the way – my income estimate was accurate; but Income Estimation and Income Reporting are apparently for two different departments.