Services Australia has been forced to pause Centrelink repayments for 86,000 people over concerns the welfare debts may be unlawful, while warning income support recipients it’s too early to say if those debts will be waived.
In August the commonwealth ombudsman revealed that up to 100,000 debts or potential debts were incorrectly calculated over two decades by “unlawfully apportioning” welfare recipients’ income.
