People pursued by Centrelink over its controversial "robo-debts" are being denied the protection of Australian consumer law, a Parliamentary inquiry has been told.
The welfare agency is exempt from laws and guidelines covering debt collection by private businesses, "even the much maligned banks", according to the chief executive of Victorian community organisation Family Care, David Tennant.
Government softens debt recovery system after backlash over recipients being required to pay back money even if they are disputing the debt
The Federal Parliament has established a Senate Inquiry into the Centrelink automated debt recovery program (widely known as 'robo debt').
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Submissions to the Inquiry are due Wednesday 22 March 2017.
The Senate has voted to conduct an enquiry into the Department of Human Services’ (DHS) automated debt recovery system.
Senator Rachel Siewert (Greens) said the inquiry would enable those who had been affected to have a voice.
The government has formally tried to congratulate itself in the Parliament on its digital transformation of services in a sign of either “irony or grand self-delusion,” according to the shadow minister for the digital economy Ed Music.
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The motion pointed to the government’s Centrelink technology, its health and aged care payment system and the MyGov online system.
A Senate inquiry established to probe the distribution of Centrelink debt recovery letters will investigate what impact the automated system has had on vulnerable Australians.
The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) has said its members will use the Senate inquiry into the Centrelink automated debt recovery debacle to reveal the full extent of "dysfunction" in the Department of Human Services (DHS).
Greens Senator Rachel Siewert will chair the investigation after the Australian Senate passed a motion on Wednesday to initiate an inquiry into the system that has some seen letters demanding money repayment sent in error to welfare recipients.
Industrial action by Department of Human Services staff designed to ramp up pressure over debt clawback system and not legitimate enterprise bargaining, claims government.
Centrelink staff are planning to use a Senate inquiry into the automated debt recovery system to highlight the level of dysfunction within the Department of Human Services, according to the Community and Public Sector Union.
A motion referring the controversial system to the Senate’s community affairs references committee passed on Wednesday afternoon, as expected, with the support of Labor, the Greens and the crossbench.
The Liberal senator Eric Abetz said Centrelink’s debt recovery system has “let down the Australian people”, while refusing to rule out support for Labor’s proposed Senate inquiry.
Sustained criticism over the system’s tendency to issue bogus debts to vulnerable Australians continues to place pressure on Liberal politicians in Tasmania.
