Four Year Old 'Debt' I never knew I had — Outrageous

Debt amount:

$1053

Date debt issued:

Sunday, 1 October 2017

Period debt occurred:

September 2013 to March 2014

Has your case been referred to a collection agency?:

Yes

Payment Type:

Newstart Allowance

Appealing Debt?:

I don't know how to

Tell us about your debt and how has this affected you? e.g. anxiety levels, financial and accommodation stress:

In brief this has worried me greatly. It has caused great stress.
I dont have the kind of money they're saying I owe them lying around. I'm a very low income earner.

The two calls I've received from debt collection agencies have been bullish to say the least.
The said that my bank account could be taken control of and that I could be taken to court. It was threatening and intimidating.

How do you feel about the way the Government has handled this process?:

It's appalling. I'm an honest person.
I haven't, nor did I ever try and get or take anything that I didnt believe was part of a genuine arrangement between myself and Centrelink while I trained.

This ridiculous letter says "the amount of your earnings was not taken into account in the payments made to you from xxx to xxx - this means you have been overpaid". WHAT? WHAT? I've completed a Tax return every year for 30 years and have never been told I misrepresented or had a problem with any ATO return.
They claim they "data match" with the ATO — why then was the address they (Centrelink) had long out of date? Whay are they only now saying I was overpaid?

It's so wrong.
Wrong.
It's rubbish and it's been handled appallingly bad.