Centrelink debt recovery

[mantra]

Labor were far more harsh at keeping welfare reined in than the Libs. Have they forgotten or are they trying to score political points? Gillard was on the right track before she got booted and was gradually introducing means testing again. Howard started this whole debacle. When times were good, he made it so easy for every man and his dog to get a slice of the taxpayer's dollar regardless of how wealthy they were, but times aren't good anymore. The baby bonus was one of his worst policies. There was no infrastructure planned to cope with this boom.

If you do the right thing and are honest with the ATO and Centrelink - there shouldn't be a problem - or that's the way it should be. Why have these departments left it so late to match up their data? Maybe eventually it will free up some benefits for the homeless, the mentally ill and those seriously on struggle street. Centrelink staff could be halved overnight if the government has the stamina to stick this policy out.

Whingers in their hordes talk about having a million dollars in the bank or in property on top of their home, but their age pension has been cut by $50 a fortnight. How will they survive? What a joke. They might actually have to dig into their savings for the first time in more than a decade.

Now the government is starting to means test those on a disability pension and the unemployed and that's fair enough. Australia needs to get its act together so our kids won't be left supporting a couple of million wealthy people who demand to live a life of comfort. Our children will never have access to that sort of comfort or security. A recent example is Neville Wran's daughter - Harriet. Her mother can afford to support her, so why is she on the dole? Jill Wran pays for private rehab for her daughter, but this family still demand unemployment benefits from the average taxpayer who is probably a lot worse off than they are. There are thousands of wealthy people who do exactly the same because they can. Whatever happened to looking after our families with our own resources?

Welfare was meant for the needy - not the greedy.

[Rorschach]

The Automated debt recovery system is ALPs baby... its a good idea.
Bill and Tanya thought it up apparently.
But it was badly implemented.
It was supposed to free up Centrelink staff for more important tasks other than checking for people who are overpaid.
Labor cut Centrelink staff by 2000 under Rudd another 5000 under the Libs. So they do need the system to work and about 20,000 debtors were found a year under labor and now the Libs with the new system are ramping it up by 10 times.
"Monk the Braindead" will tell you its all the Libs fault by cutting staff that should be used to cross check the data. But the ALP AUTOMATED the system to CUT staff. You don't AUTOMATE something to keep staff doing it. A fact "Monk the Braindead" apparently cant get his head around.
The system should be suspended the programs fixed and when they get it right only then should it be restarted.

[Rorschach]

BTW no one living on Newstart or the Disability pension could be regarded wealthy. Newstart at $250 a week is still below the poverty line.

[Redneck]

BTW no one living on Newstart or the Disability pension could be regarded wealthy. Newstart at $250 a week is still below the poverty line.

Yes I think that is a disgrace for a wealthy country like Australia.

I realise these welfare payments are very costly but I am sure the money could be found if big business tax rorts were addressed.

The Automated debt recovery system is ALPs baby... its a good idea.
Bill and Tanya thought it up apparently.
But it was badly implemented.
It was supposed to freeff by 2000 under Rudd another 5000 under the Libs. So they do need the system to work and about 20,000 debtors were found a year under labor and now up Centrelink staff for more important tasks other than checking for people who are overpaid.
Labor cut Centrelink stathe Libs with the new system are ramping it up by 10 times.
"Monk the Braindead" will tell you its all the Libs fault by cutting staff that should be used to cross check the data. But the ALP AUTOMATED the system to CUT staff. You don't AUTOMATE something to keep staff doing it. A fact "Monk the Braindead" apparently cant get his head around.
The system should be suspended the programs fixed and when they get it right only then should it be restarted.

I think it is worth keeping but certainly needs refining!

I think the onus should be more on Centrelink to prove a debt is owed, rather than going back years with comparisons of ATOs records and requiring the client to try and find out what happened.

It should be Centrelink that follow these queries up with employers,

I gather in some cases people were employed by companies that no longer exist and the client has little or no records of pay slips etc, in other cases it might be as simple as the employers names might be recorded incorrectly.

[Outlaw Yogi]

If you do the right thing and are honest with the ATO and Centrelink - there shouldn't be a problem - or that's the way it should be.

Is that right? ... Forgive my cynicism ...Back in Bundy in 2001 I had been on the dole, then got part time casual work on a banana plantation and a tomato patch. My earnings (at first) were low enough to still qualify for the dole, as the work was somewhat sporadic.

On the forms where you declare your earnings they wanted to know how much I would earn today before doing an unknown number of hours (on bananas) or random number of buckets (of tomatoes)
and if I didn't know guess/estimate it.
I wouldn't risk being overpaid by social security for underestimating an amount I hadn't earnt yet, so left (today's) earnings out and tacked it onto the next fortnight. Ensuring the correct amount was always declared.

Couple of months go by and I get this letter from social security claiming I have an $800 debt.
I went into their office, demanded copies of the declared earnings forms going back 2 months, and told them I was going to my employers' accountants to obtain copies of my earnings next.

A few days later some bloke from social security with a Scottish accent rang me and said he was cancelling the debt .. "I've reviewed your declared earnings and I have the authority to cancell this debt, and that's what I'm going to do" ... I replied "What debt?"

[Super Nova]

Yogi, That was smart. While you were always a week/2 weeks behind you made the numbers add up.

What do other people do to ensure the numbers balance then I wonder. if they have to guess then they will always be out creating a workload for a bunch of back office workers to chase all this up.

[mantra]

BTW no one living on Newstart or the Disability pension could be regarded wealthy. Newstart at $250 a week is still below the poverty line.

Yes I think that is a disgrace for a wealthy country like Australia.

I realise these welfare payments are very costly but I am sure the money could be found if big business tax rorts were addressed.

The Liberals have always started cost cutting from the bottom up. People are numbers only to them. Big business will always come first with both parties because they make the generous political donations.

I think the onus should be more on Centrelink to prove a debt is owed, rather than going back years with comparisons of ATOs records and requiring the client to try and find out what happened.

It should be Centrelink that follow these queries up with employers,

That would be far too costly.

I gather in some cases people were employed by companies that no longer exist and the client has little or no records of pay slips etc, in other cases it might be as simple as the employers names might be recorded incorrectly.

It's particularly hard for casual employees as their income is random not regular. Centrelink is very difficult to access and I heard on the news the other day that a lot of people are just paying off their alleged debt simply because they can't get through or talk to anyone who knows what they're doing. This is what the government is counting on - people giving up.

I can see the logic of this. In another 5 years - our annual welfare bill of $150 billion will be reduced dramatically. The downside will be a dramatic increase in homelessness, suicides and Australians living in extreme poverty which won't help big business much when consumerism is reduced in accordance with their customers' income. Those who genuinely need it will slip through the net unless they have someone who cares enough to help them. This will also help create a more buoyant black market and people will become more resourceful at trying to survive any way they can. Many Australians have become fat and placid because of income support. Now they will have to learn to become lean and mean.