The Minister for Government Services has announced a two-year roadmap to supposedly propel e-government. But the plans, part of a larger strategy, are considerably lacking substance.
The government seems not to have sought independent legal advice before demanding the repayment of debts it couldn’t prove were owned.
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The Commonwealth has conceded that its program of automatic debt collection was unlawful. It’ll probably have to pay the money back.
The present income averaging system will continue to be used in assessing debt. The key “refinement” will be the addition of “proof points”.
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The Department of Human Service’s customer compliance staff will now be required to seek “additional proof” rather than solely relying on income averaging when determining if there is a debt.
It helps to know what happens to people who stop claiming Newstart.
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Peter Martin, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
Newstart increases are projected to get smaller and smaller relative to pension increases. By the end of the century Newstart will be just two fifths of the pension.
Robo-debt letters may not be just, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are illegal.
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Robodebt isn’t slowing down, and its being augmented with other ways of belittling beneficiaries.
Labor’s government services spokesman Bill Shorten and lawyer Peter Gordon announcing Gordon Legal’s robo-debt class action in Canberra on Tuesday.
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Beware the airy promise of cutting red tape and saving billions. They might come for you in a way you that hurts.
Under the ParentsNext that was delivered, some parents lose payments for failing to attend appointments and others don’t.
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ParentsNext has punitive dimensions that threaten people’s human rights. Now a Senate Committee will determine whether it’s helping or harming vulnerable parents and their children.
The Department of Human Services approach to social security fraud prosecutions has become less punitive in recent years.
Julian Smith/AAP
Debt agreements have become the fastest form of personal insolvency in Australia. But in many cases, there are better options available to manage debt.
The Cashless Debit Card is a significant advance in tackling socioeconomic problems.
National Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation
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.
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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.
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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?