this was not my fault

Debt amount:

$500

Date debt issued:

Monday, 23 May 2016

Period debt occurred:

May 2016

Payment Type:

Parenting Payment

Appealing Debt?:

Yes in process

Tell us about your debt and how has this affected you? e.g. anxiety levels, financial and accommodation stress:

I reported my income and my partners and the CSO had to do it manually and when she became confused and it would not process she got another team member and together proceeded to give me a payment I was not entitled to. This was unbeknown to me as this had been the first time in many many years I had not worked and I was unaware of what I was enrolled to. This has had a huge effect on me as I have had to take extra hours at work including working New Year's Eve which happens to be my daughters birthday. This became necessary as Centrelink decided to recover my so called debt from my small family payment leaving me with approx $14 of family payment. They also claim other money I owe them which has probably occurred due to the incompetence of Centrelink staff

How do you feel about the way the Government has handled this process?:

I am disgusted as this was not my fault I done everything correct and do not believe this is a debt that was made by myself. I have spoken to a review officer whom decided my partners income of $1600 per fortnight is a high income and argued the point of this as well and stated that I was aware that I should not have obtained the payment all of this was decided without even asking me 1 question.