Centrelink’s online compliance system is expected to start matching data of more than 2.5 million aged pensioners and about 800,000 disability support pensioners, according to supporting tables to the the mid-year economic and fiscal outlook issued on January 12.
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The news has been met with dismay by Community Legal Centres Tasmania chair Jane Hutchison.
Ms Hutchison’s organisation recently joined with other community service support groups, including the Tasmania Council of Social Services, to pool financial resources to help Tasmanians who have received a repayment demand from Centrelink.
They raised $12,000 for a welfare officer to work full-time with Tasmanians dealing with a letter from Centrelink.
Ms Hutchison said it was concerning that the system was planned to target pensioners.
“It’s going to distress pensioners to no end,” she said.
“We’re talking about some of the most disadvantaged and vulnerable people in our society – often their literacy skills aren’t wonderful, let alone their computer literacy skills.
“Put the two together and they’ve got no hope.”
A statement by the Human Services Department general manager Hank Jongen said on Monday that “welfare recipients who are identified as vulnerable are not part of this online compliance activity measure”.
While Tasmania’s community legal centres have seen an increase in calls requesting assistance following the start of the Centrelink online compliance letter program, Ms Hutchison said it wasn’t as much as they had been expecting.
She said many people were choosing to pay the debt, even if they know it was incorrect, to avoid the mental stress and frustration of dealing with the Centrelink system, and that aged pensioners and disability support pensioners were particularly vulnerable to such circumstances.
Ms Hutchison said that Community Legal Centres Tasmania was urging people not to ignore the debt if they receive a letter.
“It is very, very important,” she said.
“Before it even gets to debt collectors – if you ignore it, Centrelink after a period of time are putting a 10 per cent charge on top.
“If it goes to debt collectors then they also put their costs on everything.”
Ms Hutchison said it was important that anyone who receives a letter from Centrelink requiring repayment of money goes online to the my.Gov website to attempt to resolve it, but if that was not possible, to contact their local community legal centre for support.
The legal centres can offer advice on navigating the online system and, if needed, appealing a debt.
“If a debt collector does contact a person, they can still go to the my.Gov website and try to deal with it,” she said.
“[Debt collectors] are only allowed to phone in … social hours – they cannot phone you five times a day, but yes they can phone you … on a regular basis.
“You can say that you’re disputing the debt and you can go through the appeals process.”
Ms Hutchison said to best mitigate the stress and concerns with dealing with a letter from Centrelink, entering into a small repayment plan may be the best way of keeping the process moving while lodging an appealing.
“Then you should be able to get the money back in the end,” she said.
“Make that repayment as small as possible and do not put yourself into any hardship.”
Community Legal Centres are available at Launceston and Hobart for any queries or support needed.
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