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ACOSS is demanding the urgent removal of the whole Targeted Compliance Framework due to shocking revelations of massive Government failure and potential illegality in the administration of income support payments affecting tens of thousands of people.
The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations has today revealed it has paused several additional penalty measures under the TCF due to serious legal and operational failures impacting over 10,000 people. This follows previous decisions by the DEWR Secretary to pause a number of other penalty measures. The new administrative failures identified affect over ten times as many people as previously known and call into sharp question the legality of the entire system.
The Targeted Compliance Framework, introduced in 2018, sets out the penalty system for people who do not meet their mutual obligations, including payment suspensions and cancellations.
The Minister has admitted that this system, established under the Coalition in 2018, is punitive and has stated that he wants to overhaul it. Yet, when faced with widespread and growing issues with legality dating back to 2018 and affecting tens of thousands of people on low incomes, he is choosing to continue operating the broader system and risks harming yet more people.
“This is a massive and fundamental failure of government, overseen by multiple Ministers from both Coalition and Labor Governments over the last seven years,” ACOSS Executive Director of Policy and Research, Jacqueline Phillips said.
“Now we know that at least 10,000 people may have been subjected to unlawful or invalid financial penalties or payment cancellations.
“The department has effectively admitted the Targeted Compliance Framework may have been operating outside the law in some areas for years, causing significant harm to people living on poverty payments.
“People on the lowest incomes in our society have had their vital income support payments removed for a month or more without due legal process, with no recourse or compensation. It is very disturbing that in the aftermath of Robodebt, governments continue to make unlawful social security decisions on such a scale affecting people with little means or power.
“The government must immediately remove the entire Targeted Compliance Framework, including payment suspensions, provide full back-pay and compensation to every person affected, and conduct a fully independent legal and human rights review.
“ACOSS has consistently opposed the Targeted Compliance Framework since its introduction in 2018 under the Coalition and has issued warning after warning about the serious harm it causes.”
ACOSS made a complaint about the Federal Government’s administration of the framework to the Ombudsman in December 2024, who is currently investigating whether payment cancellations under the TCF are lawful, fair and reasonable.
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My dealings with Centrelink has given me the distinct impression that there is a rather nasty computer program running in the background that staff are not able to over-ride, instead having to work around it.
The reliance on a computer program to over ride, or replace human, is a malicious set up that enabled robodebt.
Robodebt is not gone, as fragments of it continue, like a malware implemented by a malicious government determined to punish the poor and vulnerable.
I am on an Age Pension and in palliative care at home. I am very unwell and my daughter and her family enable me to live at home.
Recently my energy provider alerted me that my pension had been affected. I am unable to manage the My Gov two stage identification so I cannot access it. My daughter was doing a 4 week prac and could not go to my bank to get what Centrelink wanted. My pension was suspended for 40 days. I complained to the Minister and Australian Services - advising them they needed to mail me their requests because I could not access My Gov. I also told them that their action to suspend my pension breached the Human Rights Act because they assumed I had received their request and I had not and my daughter (nominee) was unable to assist because of her obligations.
Because I am terminal I went to a solicitor to finalise my affairs and was advised to move my super into a joint bank account. This was not alot of money. But apparently Centrelink needed to have the details. It has been a difficult time for my family and myself. Suspension made it more difficult. Finally it was restored just before Cyclone Alfred and five days later I receive a huge form to apply for an overseas pension! I emigrated in my early 20's after graduating from uni. The only jobs I had were casual. I never paid into any pension fund. I am now dying and they want me to fill out paperwork that is beyond my ability. This is a separate part of Centrelink and the service centres cannot assist. So again my daughter has to go to an office and is connected to International Centrelink. If she had not contacted them they would have suspended my pension again.
The administrative procedures appear to be sacrosanct. Never mind how nonsensical they area. In addition to this the Centrelink system does not record all the uploaded information. Somehow it just disappears. Different staff give different instructions and some of the written instructions are incomprehensible.
Centrelink should invest in new technology and evaluate the legality of suspending payments when clients are not notified In my case it felt like I was being targeted because their expectations made no sense. They had all my records showing when I arrived and spent all my adult working life in Australia.
I am positive that many others are put in difficult situations because Centrelink fails to treat us as people with legal rights to things like natural justice.
The Ombudsman considers their function to be educative and this means they do not intervene. Remember Robodebt? People's rights were just ignored. ACOSS is an advocacy organisation with little resourcing and millions of potential clients. How can they possibly advocate successfully for us all? Centrelink needs to be brought to account for unnecessarily causing hardship and distress.
The simple fact of the matter is that this is a known cognative bias whoever is in Government!
We are dealing with people who believe that they a better than us, have more rights than us and can be protected from their actions by law that is meant to be applicable to all, irrespective of race, color, religion or creed.
Its enshrined under Article's 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30 of the Universal Declaration of Rights, which is breached everyday with this continual denial and abuse.
If you are not familiar with it, please do so now https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights
I experienced Robodebt, went and made a submission in Melbourne which was submitted and held under Parliamentary privilege as it was so damming as I had worked in Financial Services and knew how to keep records.
Took part in the Class Action and had that risible error removed, however as far as I know the compensation that was awarded has never seen the light of day.
Be in no doubt about the machavellian motives of Government.
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/law-crime/2025/03/22/exclusive-leaked-report-shows-warnings-over-black-robodebt
I have no complaints with centerlink.
Each fortnight I get a sum of money in my bank and it allows me to live a little.
I must be one of the lucky ones.