It's bad enough that Centrelink is scamming it's clients millions of dollars annually by falsely declaring that the recipients have 'breached' Centrelink guidelines, as a result their payments being stopped, but now we have obtained information that Centrelink is unlawfully using debt collectors over falsified debts (a criminal act).
Is there no boundaries that the corporation conglomerate will stop at to extort cash from the 'weak'?
On a side note the true colour of Australian law is that of "Guilty until proven innocent", where absolute and strict liability is (unlawfully) applied. This falls under Roman Law.
See article from 6 December 2016 of the headline:
Guilty until proven innocent – Centrelink gone rogue
The Independent Member for Denison, Andrew Wilkie, urged the Federal Government to call to heel Centrelink which is generating numerous incorrect debt notices and frightening the community with heavy-handed tactics and debt collectors.Centrelink has begun using a new automated system that matches government payments to tax records to identify fraud or overpayments worth up to $4 billion.
However based on complaints to his office, Mr Wilkie said the new IT system was spitting out numerous incorrect debt notices among the $4.5 million compliance notices produced daily.
“I have no problem with the Government retrieving genuine overpayments or cracking down on fraud,” Mr Wilkie said. “But I do have grave concerns with Centrelink acting like loan sharks and treating people as guilty until proven innocent and sending in the debt collectors.”
Mr Wilkie said his office has heard from distraught and terrified people wrongly receiving debt notices of up to $6500 that date back as far as 2010. They are given three weeks to provide documentation to Centrelink to prove they were not overpaid. If they have changed address, they may not even receive the debt notice.
“These people can explain why they were not overpaid, but are struggling to lay their hands on the documents to prove it as the so-called debt dates back years and in some cases their employers have gone out of business,’’ Mr Wilkie said. “How many of us could lay our hands on a pay slip from six years ago?”
Mr Wilkie said if people could not prove the debt was incorrect, they have to pay up or risk a visit from the debt collector.
“Clearly this new IT system is badly designed and must be sorted out,” Mr Wilkie said. “The Human Services Minister, Alan Tudge, should drop his Grinch act and suspend the program until Centrelink is confident of its system integrity. We don’t treat people as guilty until proven innocent in Australia, unless you’re Centrelink it seems.
“If Minister Tudge does not act, the program will be exposed as another cruel and ideological attack from the Liberal Government on the nation’s vulnerable and disadvantaged.”
3 comments:
Shock Horror? Not from these Sociopaths
I have received one of these notices, because according to the tax department my group certificate was for the whole financial year when I didn't work the whole year and started claiming benefits. They are trying to say that I was working and claiming benefits. However, when I did claim benefits I gave center link a separation certificate from my employer, obviously this stands for nothing.
I have received a centrelink debt of $690 for dates of 2011. I declared my income as per my payslips from my employer at the time under the abn supplied to me, however when lodging my tax they have used a different abn number but this was the same company. Centrelink couldnt figure this out when we all have access to an abn search on the internet! I had to take a day off work to spend 4 hours on the phone, spoke to 8 people to get a straight answer. They had expected me to link the centrelink account with my mygov account however the ato have my married name and centrelink dont so this could not be linked... I had no idea about the debt until I got a text message from Dun and Bradstreet DEMANDING i pay that amount of money then and there. No questions asked, i was made out to be guilty and having two jobs at the same time and only declaring one wage when this was not the case at all. One job, one wage, doing the honest thing and I get penalised for it. Centrelink sent letter to a 5 year old address... They would have received a return to sender!!! It is ridiculous and after spending 4 hours on the phone last Friday and updating my address, I get a letter in the mail still asking for $690... I had spoken to a lady 3.5 hours later of being on the phone and she was extremely helpful, got the debt down to $136 but i still get a letter asking for $690 so I am yet to call again tomorrow!!! Funny how a government company can access your tax and get your current address details but fail to do so because they want money!!! Focus on the people who are really ripping you off such as doll bludgers!!!
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