Inclusion Australia joins other advocacy organisations in again calling on the Government to immediately stop all Centrelink payment penalties linked to compulsory activities. These are tasks you must do to get and keep a Centrelink payment.
Today, the Ombudsman released its second report into how compulsory activities known as mutual obligations are being run.
The findings show serious, ongoing problems across the system. It shows that many people are being penalised based on inaccurate information with poor oversight, and that a large number of decisions are later found to be wrong.
These failures have big impacts on many people with disability who have compulsory activities, including almost 13,000 people with an intellectual disability on JobSeeker. In just the first three months of this year, almost 30% of all Centrelink payment suspensions were issued to people who have told Centrelink about their disability. Every penalty can push someone into financial crisis, making it harder to buy food, pay bills and stay safe.
You can read the full statement from the Ombudsman’s first report here.
Organisations calling on the Government to stop all Centrelink payment suspensions and to remove the Targeted Compliance Framework include:
- Anglicare Australia
- Antipoverty Centre
- Anti-Poverty Network South Australia
- Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS)
- Disability Advocacy Network Australia
- Economic Justice Australia
- Inclusion Australia
- People with Disability Australia
- Physical Disability Australia
- Single Mother Families Australia
- Sweltering Cities
- Women with Disabilities Australia
We urge the Government to take immediate action to prevent further harm to people who depend on Centrelink payments to meet their basic needs.