Deep sobs

I watched my wife sob uncontrollably today for the first time since the traumatic birth of our first child. The last time I saw her that upset was when, because of the trauma of labour and an eventual emergency C-section, she was unable to walk or even hold her newborn baby in her arms. The tears she wept were those of fear, of frustration and uncertainty.
Today, just three months away from giving birth to our second child, she poured out those same emotions.

I had rushed straight home from work after receiving a call from her. She couldn’t even speak to me on the phone she was so upset.
I arrived home to find her distraught, trying desperately to hide her tears from our 18 month old child who was equally upset at seeing his mother in such a state.

When she could finally speak, she told me that she had received a call today from Centrelink.
It was the culmination of weeks of frantic calls to banks and ex-employers (and accompanied with more tears) to try and track down records of her very modest income whilst studying some 7 years ago.

It turns out her name was highlighted by what is being referred to as Centrelink’s “Robodebt” system, whereby records from years in the past are cross matched and discrepancies highlighted.
Such discrepancies may not even result from any error of hers (as the Centrelink caller advised) but could be system errors or oversights.

For weeks she had been providing every record she could find (which proved very difficult 7 years on), and being ever so frustrated at the process and constant back-and-forth with little to no information as to why a discrepancy would even exist.
Precious time intended to be spent with our first child as we prepare for our second, was instead spent on the phone to banks or rifling through storage boxes from the ceiling – no small task for someone entering her third trimester.

Today one phone call concluded her efforts with the advice that due to computer matching and the inability from her to prove otherwise, she had incurred overpayments back in 2011/2012 and would therefore need to repay a debt of over $4,500.

For a household preparing for the financial impact of a second child, this news is not just distressing – it’s life changing. No budget tweaking can resolve the impact, and no one could have expected such an unforeseen debt to simply appear so many years after it’s supposed instigation.

And that’s the worst bit. We still don’t have answers as to why the supposed overpayment was made, or who was to blame, or why – in the past 7 years – it wasn’t detected or mentioned.
My wife is, and always has been absolutely honest and thus this news is heartbreaking and so confusing.

Rather weeks of interrogation result in a simple phone call and soon-to-arrive letter advising that our financial plans are now in tatters as we enter the final stages of our second pregnancy.

I know we are not alone in receiving this horrible news – but for us, this is devastating.
My wife feels harassed, accused, frustrated and now simply helpless.
She has always reported her income to the best of her ability and within the bounds of what a reasonable person would expect.
She’s done all she can to provide everything required of her (she wouldn’t harm a fly), and now she’s left with nothing but a huge debt.
We – are left with a huge debt.

We are desperate for acquittal of the supposed overpayment from over half a decade ago - but don't know who to turn to.
We're equally passionate to see changes to the current Centrelink system to prevent others from going through this horrible experience.
It does nothing but tarnish the reputation of Centrelink and put unwarranted burden on countless innocent members of the public.

My wife should be enjoying her final weeks of pregnancy as she looks forward to the next stage of motherhood, not feeling like a criminal or worrying about this awful debt.
Our government and the departments they manage should place human dignity above the dollar. Fair play above brute force.
These are not just entries on a spreadsheet, they're very real people with very real lives and worries, hopes and dreams.
Something has to change, and change soon for the sake of the countless families who have had their financial futures thrown into turmoil.