regional

Two Labor MPs have slammed the Turnbull Government over the Centrelink debt saga, and have repeated calls for the government’s cash claw-back to be put on hold until the matter has been cleared up.

Centrelink recipients across the region are being told to pay back false debts sometimes amounting to thousands of dollars because of a faulty computer algorithm.
The Federal Government and Centrelink have come under heavy criticism from all quarters over the automated system that has been used to match welfare recipients' reported income.
Amid all the anger the government agency began using Twitter to refer welfare recipients to crisis support hotline Lifeline as the hashtag #notmydebt began trending on the social media platform.

When a Bendigo aged care facility decided to change its name, a simple re-brand was probably the only thing on the board’s mind.
But the decision – inadvertently – set in motion a series of events that left one of its former employees owing $2558 to Centrelink.
At least that’s what Rob K and his accountant have since discovered.
He was one of the tens of thousands of Australians to receive a Centrelink debt recovery letter in the second half of 2016 as part of an automated nationwide audit.

A Metford man has slammed the federal government after he received a letter from Centrelink telling him he owed thousands of dollars, saying the situation was “a debacle”.
Danny Gilligan is one thousands across Australia who believe they have been wrongly targeted by the welfare agency, which has drawn widespread criticism in recent weeks as similar stories have emerged.