Disability advocates have put further pressure on the government to suspend its automated debt recovery system, while Centrelink continues to refer distressed and suicidal individuals to Lifeline.
Disabled People’s Organisations Australia, a collection of disability support and advocacy groups, has called on the government to immediately halt the recovery process, which has relied on a crude and automated data-matching process to begin chasing 169,000 debts from welfare recipients since July.
Co-chief executive officer Matthew Bowden said he feared the system was having a particularly unfair impact on those with a disability.
“Many people with disability rely on social security payments to make ends meet. For those that work in casual or contract work, this new system appears to be particularly problematic,” Bowden said.
“The majority of people with disability being reviewed will have been entitled to social security payments and have done nothing wrong. People with [a] disability may need more time and support to understand the information and respond, may need the information in different, accessible formats and should have increased advocacy available to engage with the Centrelink system and manage such a stressful situation.”
The group called for the government to immediately suspend the system. It adds to a growing number of groups calling for the system’s suspension, including the Australian Council of Social Service, Autism Awareness Australia, the Community and Public Sector Union, Labor, the Greens, independent Andrew Wilkie, and senator Nick Xenophon.
In a further sign of the system’s impact on individuals, Centrelink is referring some Twitter users to Lifeline. The tweets, clearly made by concerned staff, show the level of damage the system is causing.