Articles on Centrelink

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The Cashless Debit Card is a significant advance in tackling socioeconomic problems. National Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation

May 3, 2017

The Cashless Debit Card Trial is working and it is vital – here’s why

Marcia Langton, University of Melbourne

Critics of the Cashless Welfare Card trial overlook the fact it is curbing alcohol and gambling problems – and it's what the communities want.

Australia’s social security policy and service delivery system is not designed to put customer needs first. AAP/Julian Smith

March 20, 2017

After the robo-debt debacle, here’s how Centrelink can win back Australians’ trust

Paul Henman, The University of Queensland

The extent of Centrelink’s customer service delivery problems is legendary – and it's been getting worse in recent years.

March 20, 2017

Infographic: the truth behind Centrelink’s waiting times

Wes Mountain, The Conversation

We created a graphic to explain what's really going on when Centrelink says its wait time is under 16 minutes.

Controversy has recently surrounded Centrelink and its handling of ‘overpayments’ and personal information. AAP/Dave Hunt

March 15, 2017

How the law allows governments to publish your private information

Bruce Baer Arnold, University of Canberra

Privacy laws in Australia need to be reformed, and fast, to stop governments bullying people through publication of personal information.

Many of the debt recovery letters issued by Centrelink were the result of an intrinsically error prone system. AAP Image/Julian Smith

February 14, 2017

Errors in Centrelink’s debt recovery system were inevitable, as in all complex systems

Simon Williams, Flinders University

The Centrelink debt recovery system reminds us that many data systems are prone to error, and that's built in to how they work.

The government claims budget savings will more than offset its additional spending on child care. AAP/Mick Tsikas

February 9, 2017

Omnibus welfare bill shows the always-tricky politics of budget savings

Peter Whiteford, Australian National University

By far the most significant projected savings in the government's omnibus bill is the phasing out of end-of-year supplements for family tax benefit recipients.

Federal and state agencies are using powerful automated data-matching programs to identify properties that are generating income and might be liable for tax. from www.shutterstock.com

January 23, 2017

Airbnb hosts beware – it’s not just Centrelink using robo-debt systems

Brendan Gogarty, University of Tasmania and Lynden Griggs, University of Tasmania

State revenue offices are using data matching to identify people who earn income from Airbnb, then sending notices that they may be liable for land tax, even though this remains a legal grey area.

A blockchain could be used to record all of our interactions with the government. Shutterstock

January 13, 2017

Centrelink data-matching problems show the need for a government blockchain

Christine Helliar, University of South Australia

The problems with Centrelink's data-matching system stem from reconciling datasets held by different agencies. What if we used a blockchain to create a single source of data?

Government ministers have defended Centrelink’s debt recovery processes as ‘working’ following an ongoing controversy. AAP/Julian Smith

January 11, 2017

Note to Centrelink: Australian workers’ lives have changed

Peter Whiteford, Australian National University

Centrelink's debt recovery problems reflect an over-simplistic application of policy to the complexity of workers’ lives in a flexible labour market.

The Commonwealth Ombudsman will investigate Centrelink’s automated debt-recovery system. AAP/Dan Peled

January 9, 2017

Why Centrelink should adopt a light touch when data matching

Helen Hodgson, Curtin University

Centrelink's debt recovery system is using information in a way that it was not designed to be applied, without properly adjusting for differences between the tax and social security system.

How much welfare debt accumulates and is recovered each year? AAP Image/Tracey Nearmy

August 8, 2016

FactCheck: do welfare recipients owe the Australian government about $3.5 billion?

Gerry Redmond, Flinders University and Rodrigo Praino, Flinders University

Is the Coalition right to say that, at any one time, there is around $3.5 billion of debt to the Commonwealth due to fraud, non-compliance or misreporting in the welfare system?

Those who struggle the most with bills can also find it hardest to change their energy choices. AAP Image/Dan Peled

July 18, 2016

It’s not easy being green, especially when affordable help is so hard to find

Edgar Liu, UNSW and Bruce Judd, UNSW

It's not just about finding money for things like solar panels – poorer households can also find it harder to gain access to reliable information about the green energy options they do have.

Millions of calls to Centrelink went unanswered as Australians waited a collective total of 811 years in 2013-14. Shutterstock/Sarah Jane Taylor

June 1, 2015

What kind of government service puts public on hold for 811 years?

Kristin Natalier, Flinders University

Centrelink's failure to answer calls is a sign of a deeper problem: a lack of respect from government services for vulnerable citizens.

Jenny Macklin has found herself in hot water over comments about the dole. AAP/Alan Porritt

January 10, 2013

ALP must make a Newstart on its broken welfare policy

Russell Marks, La Trobe University

There seems little doubt that Families Minister Jenny Macklin’s office attempted to “fix up” her extraordinary faux pas last Tuesday – her claim that yes, she could live on the daily income of $35 received…

There’s no evidence to suggest that the government’s income management program is working. So why is it being expanded? AAP

December 10, 2012

Government remains deaf to the data on income management

Eva Cox, University of Technology Sydney

If Finance Minister Penny Wong is serious about delivering budget savings to Australians, perhaps she should rethink the government’s commitment to its contentious income management program. By cutting…

Income management is being introduced in part for child protection, but is could make things harder for families. AAP/Joe Castro

July 8, 2012

There’s no evidence that income management works … so why introduce it?

Eva Cox, University of Technology Sydney

The start of the new financial year has also heralded the start of one of the major reforms of our income support system, yet few know it is happening. The Income Management program quarantines at least…

Top contributors

Eva Cox
Professorial Fellow, Jumbunna IHL, University of Technology Sydney
Peter Whiteford
Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
Paul Henman
Associate Professor, Sociology and Social Policy, The University of Queensland
Bruce Baer Arnold
Assistant Professor, School of Law, University of Canberra
Gerry Redmond
Associate Professor, School of Social and Policy Studies, Flinders University
Russell Marks
Honorary Research Associate, School of Social Sciences, La Trobe University
Marcia Langton
Foundation Chair in Australian Indigenous Studies, University of Melbourne
Edgar Liu
Research Fellow at City Futures Research Centre, UNSW
Helen Hodgson
Associate Professor, Curtin Law School and Curtin Business School, Curtin University
Bruce Judd
Professor, UNSW
Brendan Gogarty
Senior Lecturer in Law, University of Tasmania
Rodrigo Praino
Lecturer, School of Social and Policy Studies, Flinders University
Kristin Natalier
Associate Professor in Sociology, Flinders University
Simon Williams
Lecturer in Mathematics, Flinders University
Tim Prenzler
Professor of Criminology, University of the Sunshine Coast