Centrelink Debt recovery has fucked up, staff told to not fix mistakes in debt notices

[fruxodaily]

[QUOTE]Centrelink’s compliance teams are being told not to correct errors with its flawed debt recovery program, allowing the “unjust system” to generate millions of dollars in bogus debts, a new whistleblower has alleged.

The explosive claims are detailed in a lengthy letter anonymously sent by a Centrelink compliance officer to the progressive political group GetUp, which released it publicly alongside the Community and Public Sector Union on Thursday.

The letter details a litany of errors with the new automated compliance system and speaks of the despair felt by Centrelink’s compliance officers as vulnerable Australians are wrongly issued with welfare debts.

Second Liberal senator attacks Centrelink debt retrieval and demands solution
Read more
“We are struggling daily with our consciences and pushing back against our leaders every single day,” the whistleblower wrote. “We are telling the [online compliance intervention system] help desk over and over that what we are doing is wrong.

“Nothing changes and gradually I can see officers simply accepting that they are powerless to change anything, powerless to help customers have accurate outcomes and powerless to stop this process. I see these reviews every working day and I am horrified at what I am being directed to do.

“I am risking my job sending this information in the desperate hope that exposing such an … unjust system might just make a difference.”

Guardian Australia has independently verified the claims with another high-ranking source who recently left Centrelink.

Some of the allegations in the letter have already been aired, including that the system is erroneously doubling up an individual’s income because of “fuzzy matching” between Centrelink and tax office records of business names, leading to the creation of inaccurate debts.

The whistleblower said this was occurring hundreds of times a day.

But many other claims in the letter are new. The whistleblower said compliance officers were being expressly told not to fix errors generated by the automated system, even when they could prove the debts were wrong.

The whistleblower alleges that the teams were told they should only correct errors if they were identified by customers, who were rarely in a position to understand the complex factors behind their debt.

Compliance officers have also been told they cannot consider evidence the customer has already provided, including documentation to prove they were not working, or payslips previously provided to Centrelink.

“Within the organisation it is well known that that there are errors in the program and compliance officers are directed to ignore incorrect debts without being permitted to correct them,” the official said.

“When we report errors, it falls on deaf ears or we are told that the issue is already known and we must not make any attempt to fix the error or our work will be returned as wrong and we will have to cancel the corrections.”[/QUOTE]

[url]https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/jan/19/centrelink-staff-told-not-to-fix-mistakes-in-debt-notices-whistleblower[/url]

this has directly impacted my girlfriend and the stress they put on has put me under a lot of stress as well, im so fucking over this bullshit

[Sirdownloadsalot]

I know a lot of people who have been affected by this, including my family. This system is supposed to help struggling families like my own to survive, but seem to thrive on fucking us over at every corner, while the libs continue to paint us as dole-bludgers and leaners.

[Killer900]

Man some people in this world need to just die (talking about the people who ordered this to be done this way and help to keep perpetuating it)

[DogGunn]

Liberals don't care because it is quite likely that those that are affected by this aren't their voters. But I guess we will see soon enough.

[Evanstr]

[QUOTE=DogGunn;51692475]Liberals don't care because it is quite likely that those that are affected by this aren't their voters. But I guess we will see soon enough.[/QUOTE]

Not a matter of liberals not Caring for there voters, The economy and etc right now is so fucked the government is taking un humane measures.
I am a liberal supporter and right now I am hating what the liberal government is doing and what they will do, But there really is no other option.

Leave Australia while you still can.

Also people of other nations the welfare system is barely liveable as it is anyway, If you are below 23 you will be given around ~280 dollars every 2 weeks, Eventually you will be given around ~700 every two weeks once over that age but an example my rent currently is 370 a week.

[killerteacup]

[QUOTE=Evanstr;51692514]Not a matter of liberals not Caring for there voters, The economy and etc right now is so fucked the government is taking un humane measures.

I am a liberal supporter and right now I am hating what the liberal government is doing and what they will do, But there really is no other option.

Leave Australia while you still can.[/QUOTE]

I can't believe you're defending this as them having "no other option"

I've seen a lot of terrible posts about politics from you but this is right up there mate

[Evanstr]

[QUOTE=killerteacup;51692528]I can't believe you're defending this as them having "no other option"

I've seen a lot of terrible posts about politics from you but this is right up there mate[/QUOTE]

I hate what the liberal government is doing, But they have to be cunts to save the economy at this point.
What they are currently doing is fucking me over to and I have zero family to fall back on so 2-5 weeks I will be on the street if I dont find a new job(which is fucking hard).

One should care more for the future well being of ones citizens in a nation rather than bitch about ones self. Its a team game not a individual.

[BF]

Honestly, I'm surprised that I haven't been hit with a debt letter. I work a lot but I also get some youth allowance because I'm also studying, and for the longest time I was accidentally reporting my post-tax earnings rather than my pre-tax earnings, which I should have been reporting instead.

[Xonax]

[QUOTE=Evanstr;51692532]I hate what the liberal government is doing, But they have to be cunts to save the economy at this point.
What they are currently doing is fucking me over to and I have zero family to fall back on so 2-5 weeks I will be on the street if I dont find a new job(which is fucking hard).

One should care more for the future well being of ones citizens in a nation rather than bitch about ones self. Its a team game not a individual.[/QUOTE]

Or they could Tax the Rich and Companies, and not force people who are struggling with money, to pay back debts they will never be able to pay back.

[Evanstr]

[QUOTE=Xonax;51692681]Or they could Tax the Rich and Companies, and not force people who are struggling with money, to pay back debts they will never be able to pay back.[/QUOTE]

Yeah Because Taxing the rich always works.... All they will do is raise there prices and what little companies that are still doing business in Australia will move offshore to china etc.

Government should finally get the tax office to stop anally raping small business and go after bigger corporations which dodge all that "higher tax rate" you talk about because all that happens in the end
is the small guy gets fucked (small business and workers)

[editline]19th January 2017[/editline]

[QUOTE=Xonax;51692681]Or they could Tax the Rich and Companies, and not force people who are struggling with money, to pay back debts they will never be able to pay back.[/QUOTE]

Also do you realise how the debt system works with centrelink ? you dont have to pay it back, they just take it out of your welfare payments.

[Xonax]

[QUOTE=Evanstr;51692724]Yeah Because Taxing the rich always works.... All they will do is raise there prices and what little companies that are still doing business in Australia will move offshore to china etc.[/quote]
Taxing the Rich will help a lot, plus they deserve to be taxed more, the tax for the 99% is higher than the 1% which is dumb.

Also they may move to China, so what? Besides you can Tax companies for more things than just overall, like Carbon Tax, they won't go overseas just because there is Carbon Tax.
[quote]
Government should finally get the tax office to stop anally raping small business and go after bigger corporations which dodge all that "higher tax rate" you talk about because all that happens in the end
is the small guy gets fucked (small business and workers)[/quote]
I agree.

[quote]Also do you realise how the debt system works with centrelink ? you dont have to pay it back, they just take it out of your welfare payments.[/QUOTE]

Sounds like paying back to me. They take money you owe them. You just don't get a choice.
It's even worse for people who need a lot of money to survive.

[Patrick]

i still have $100 i owe them for something, havent paid it because i dont think i actually owe them $100

[DogGunn]

[QUOTE=Evanstr;51692514]
I am a liberal supporter and right now I am hating what the liberal government is doing and what they will do, But there really is no other option.[/QUOTE]

Was this a joke?
For a government that was promoting jobs and innovation, they seem to have done none of that. They seem to be taking a starve the beast approach to Centrelink right now - something that won't work in Australia. I'm not on any Centrelink benefits, but they seem to be pretty shit at helping grow any sector of our economy.

[editline]19th January 2017[/editline]

[QUOTE=Pat.Lithium;51693029]i still have $100 i owe them for something, havent paid it because i dont think i actually owe them $100[/QUOTE]

If you've actually had a debt notice, they'll just take it out of your next payment.

[Crumpets]

[QUOTE=Evanstr;51692724]Yeah Because Taxing the rich always works.... All they will do is raise there prices and what little companies that are still doing business in Australia will move offshore to china etc.

Government should finally get the tax office to stop anally raping small business and go after bigger corporations which dodge all that "higher tax rate" you talk about because all that happens in the end
is the small guy gets fucked (small business and workers)

[editline]19th January 2017[/editline]

Also do you realise how the debt system works with centrelink ? you dont have to pay it back, they just take it out of your welfare payments.[/QUOTE]

the rich are assholes and refuse to pay higher tax, so instead lets just milk these poor submissive families who can't do anything about it. it's a wild world we live in. hard conservative economics and neoliberalism in the west will be the death of capitalism as we know it, and these people are all too happy to speed along this process as long as they get a little richer while doing it.

[editline]19th January 2017[/editline]

point being address the fucking problem instead of skirting it and ruining people who cant stop you

[343N]

if i had a billion dollars i wouldnt mind being taxed a million dollars if it meant someone with a thousand dollars was taxed a dollar

[editline]19th January 2017[/editline]

then again, i'm not rich

[BF]

[QUOTE=343N;51693168]if i had a billion dollars i wouldnt mind being taxed a million dollars if it meant someone with a thousand dollars was taxed a dollar

[editline]19th January 2017[/editline]

then again, i'm not rich[/QUOTE]

But $1 million is 0.1% of $1 billion, just as $1 is 0.1% of $1,000. Both are taxed proportionally the same lol.

And if you earned $1 billion, you could be taxed up to around $450 million.

[343N]

i know, what i'm trying to say is it should be proportional with income (but im not an economics guy so there might be obvious problems with that)

[Evanstr]

[QUOTE=DogGunn;51693093]Was this a joke?
For a government that was promoting jobs and innovation, they seem to have done none of that. They seem to be taking a starve the beast approach to Centrelink right now - something that won't work in Australia. I'm not on any Centrelink benefits, but they seem to be pretty shit at helping grow any sector of our economy.
.[/QUOTE]

No matter the government that is governing Australia for them to fix Australia its going to have to be shit.
Liberal is the only government prepared to make tough choices, All labour will do is give people more free money like it always does and all it will do is create more debt which Australia cannot afford.

Debt = fucking your children.

[GordonZombie]

[QUOTE=Crumpet;51693102]the rich are assholes and refuse to pay higher tax, so instead lets just milk these poor submissive families who can't do anything about it. it's a wild world we live in. hard conservative economics and neoliberalism in the west will be the death of capitalism as we know it, and these people are all too happy to speed along this process as long as they get a little richer while doing it.

[editline]19th January 2017[/editline]

point being address the fucking problem instead of skirting it and ruining people who cant stop you[/QUOTE]

It is going to bite back especially with people getting as desperate as they are. I wouldn't be surprised if we start seeing rioting from working/lower class people tired of getting fucked over by politicians such as these cunts or the Conservatives back in the UK, or even the GOP in the US. Wouldn't be too surprised if there was also resurgence of socialist sentiment (or at least a variation of it) over the West.

[Evanstr]

[QUOTE=GordonZombie;51693246]It is going to bite back especially with people getting as desperate as they are. I wouldn't be surprised if we start seeing rioting from working/lower class people tired of getting fucked over by politicians such as these cunts or the Conservatives back in the UK, or even the GOP in the US. Wouldn't be too surprised if there was also resurgence of socialist sentiment (or at least a variation of it) over the West.[/QUOTE]

Heres hoping the far right rises (not the goddam nazi's)

[Crumpets]

[QUOTE=GordonZombie;51693246]It is going to bite back especially with people getting as desperate as they are. I wouldn't be surprised if we start seeing rioting from working/lower class people tired of getting fucked over by politicians such as these cunts or the Conservatives back in the UK, or even the GOP in the US. Wouldn't be too surprised if there was also resurgence of socialist sentiment (or at least a variation of it) over the West.[/QUOTE]

you'd expect this to be the case but with the recent wave of populism it seems you can tap into the widespread distrust with the right rhetoric and make them vote against their interests. I wonder how many lower class people hold support for the conservatives based on nothing else but their current promise of Brexit, for example.

[DogGunn]

[QUOTE=Evanstr;51693241]
Liberal is the only government prepared to make tough choices, All labour will do is give people more free money like it always does and all it will do is create more debt which Australia cannot afford.

Debt = fucking your children.[/QUOTE]

I can't stand Federal Labor, but dear lord, I'm prepared to give them more credence than that.

[Crumpets]

[QUOTE=Evanstr;51693241]No matter the government that is governing Australia for them to fix Australia its going to have to be shit.
Liberal is the only government prepared to make tough choices, All labour will do is give people more free money like it always does and all it will do is create more debt which Australia cannot afford.

Debt = fucking your children.[/QUOTE]

also if by tough choices you mean austerity it doesn't work

[Xonax]

[QUOTE=Evanstr;51693241]No matter the government that is governing Australia for them to fix Australia its going to have to be shit.
Liberal is the only government prepared to make tough choices, All labour will do is give people more free money like it always does and all it will do is create more debt which Australia cannot afford.

Debt = fucking your children.[/QUOTE]

You're joking right?
The Debt Labor had was extremely small, nearly irrelevant.
They kept it low for years.
Liberal tho, they got us more Debt than Labor did.

[editline]19th January 2017[/editline]

Labor did questionable things yes but they do Tough Choices too.
Remember the Carbon Tax? It was the right thing to do, but it was tough to get through Parliament due to multiple reasons.

Taxing the Rich, Companies and so on will help decrease the Debt.
More money = higher tax.
Not less money = higher tax.

[Mono]

[QUOTE=Evanstr;51692514]Not a matter of liberals not Caring for there voters, The economy and etc right now is so fucked the government is taking un humane measures.
I am a liberal supporter and right now I am hating what the liberal government is doing and what they will do, But there really is no other option.

Leave Australia while you still can.[/QUOTE]

Yes, because scraping a few hundred thousand off povos and putting them in debt is definitely going to fix the economy. Are you actually this delusional?

[Evanstr]

[QUOTE=Darth Ninja;51693387]Yes, because scraping a few hundred thousand off povos and putting them in debt is definitely going to fix the economy. Are you actually this delusional?[/QUOTE]

Point out where I said that in that comment?

I said
- Economy is fucked
- I am hating the liberals at the moment
- there is no other option than to go with liberals other than leave.

[editline]19th January 2017[/editline]

[QUOTE=Xonax;51693368]You're joking right?
The Debt Labor had was extremely small, nearly irrelevant.
They kept it low for years.
Liberal tho, they got us more Debt than Labor did.
[/QUOTE]

[T]http://i.imgur.com/1qwdwMh.png[/T]
Does not look small to me.

[Saxon]

I hope they get sued into the ground

[Evanstr]

[QUOTE=Saxon;51693416]I hope they get sued into the ground[/QUOTE]

If someone is on Job Seeker welfare and they have the money/time to go take on the government in court they shouldn't be getting the welfare in the first place.

[Spookly]

[QUOTE=Evanstr;51693419]If someone is on Job Seeker welfare and they have the money/time to go take on the government in court they shouldn't be getting the welfare in the first place.[/QUOTE]

you don't deserve to be treated decently because you can't find a job.

How about people that are getting fucked over by this that used to be on job seekers, what's the excuse for that? "people with jobs shouldn't have the time to take on the government?"

Ridiculous

[Evanstr]

[QUOTE=HAKKAR!!!;51693441]you don't deserve to be treated decently because you can't find a job.

How about people that are getting fucked over by this that used to be on job seekers, what's the excuse for that? "people with jobs shouldn't have the time to take on the government?"

Ridiculous[/QUOTE]

Also it is to note that this information was released by GetUp and organisation that on election day called old people and said the government is going to take always all there money and they are funded by greens/labor and unions.

[url]http://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-10-14/abetz_unmasks_get_up21/40088[/url]