My children have special needs and I feel like a criminal

Debt amount:

$57000

Date debt issued:

Thursday, 12 July 2018

Has your case been referred to a collection agency?:

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:

During 2014 I became partnered, I already had a toddler and chaotic lifestyle, despite this i notified centrelink when I become pregnant with my second son. I was chronically sick with HG during this pregnancy and made 2 attempts to rectify the wrong payment. This overpayment was ongoing until 2017. No one at the centrelink offices would listen to me and I'd given up trying. I had 3 kids and was chronically ill with my 4th child by this point. My stresses and anxieties sky rocketed, I was now medicated for it. I felt no one wanted to listen.

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

I ended up sitting in one of the offices with my partner until they rectified it, I was so scared of being 'caught' and it was changed. I then got a phone call 6 months later informing me of been over paid and had a whopping debt I couldn't afford to pay back for THEIR stuff ups. They FORCED a confession off me and I'm now facing jail time. Legal aid told me they won't fight for me. I now have to pay more money for a lawyer to fight my case. My children have special needs and I feel like a criminal.