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Porter backs Centrelink debt system

3 January 2017
Phoebe Wearne
The West Australian

Social Services Minister Christian Porter has defended Centrelink’s unpopular debt-recovery system, arguing it was “about as reasonable a process as you could possibly derive”.

The automated system, introduced in July, has been the subject of a string of complaints since it began sending review letters to welfare recipients.

The notices indicate possible discrepancies have been identified by the system, which matches employment data from the Australian Taxation Office with Centrelink data.

It plays a key role in the Turnbull Government’s attempts to recover millions in unnecessary welfare costs.

Labor has joined calls for it to be suspended or scrapped.