An extortion racket is punishing the poorest and most vulnerable people in Australia. But far from being a criminal enterprise run by a mafia gang, it’s the Australian government running the racket.
The astonishing debt recovery scandal aimed at the most disadvantaged is blowing up across Australia. The scheme, which could be taken straight from the script of the fictional Ken Loach film I, Daniel Blake, is managed by Centrelink, run by the Australian government’s Department of Human Services.
Australians have hit back with a hilarious new video mimicking the Australian government. The video highlights mounting questions about the government debt recovery programme, which sees thousands of dollars forcibly taken from hundreds of thousands of Australia’s most marginalised inhabitants.
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Taskforce Integrity targets geographic areas where data seems to point to higher risks of suspected welfare fraud. The initiative is currently in its pilot phase, but has funds to operate nationally until mid-2019.
Department of Human Services minister Alan Tudge, who oversees the initiative, told Australians:
"We’ll find you, we’ll track you down and you will have to repay those debts and you may end up in prison."
If people don’t pay the alleged debt, debt collection ‘heavies’ collect the payment, plus 10% recovery costsand 10% interest. Jail is another option. A third is to apply a Departure Prohibition Order, which means non-compliant recipients of debt recovery letters are subject to a ban on overseas travel.
And if the recipient does not respond to a letter, Centrelink simply assumes the ‘debt’ demand is correct.
Dun & Bradstreet is one of three debt collection firms that Centrelink is using. Others are Probe Group and Australian Receivables, both on A$2.5m contracts.