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The Latest Breaking News from Centrelink

Average jobseeker has $135 weekly shortfall on basic costs, report finds

Often nothing left for other necessities or emergencies, Anglicare says, with Centrelink payment levels ‘trapping people in poverty’

The Guardian - AU

Australian job providers under investigation for demanding payslips from jobseekers

Action comes after a Guardian inquiry in April revealed private providers were using extreme methods to retrieve payslips and claim public money

The Guardian - AU

New Services Australia boss to face big test at estimates

David Hazlehurst began in the agency on January 8.

The Canberra Times

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Centrelink mutual obligations: budget changes tipped to prevent 1m jobseeker suspensions a year

Announcements are ‘good steps’ to reduce harms caused by employment services system but fall short of the overhaul required, advocates say

The Guardian - AU

For students, Clare has made a good start. Here’s what he should do next

Reverting last year’s bloated HECs indexation was a sensible change. But there’s plenty more to be done to assist students struggling with the cost of living.

Crikey

Payslip wars: Australian jobseekers suffer harassment in ‘a crazy system that doesn’t work for anyone’

Private job providers can claim public money when jobseekers find work. But they need their payslips to do so, and some resort to extreme methods to get them

The Guardian - AU

Urban Rampage banned from using Centrepay to sign up mostly Indigenous customers to credit arrangements

Asic finds arrangements posed ‘significant risk’ of financial hardship but clothing store says it will appeal ‘racist and paternalistic decision’

The Guardian - AU

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Centrelink claims backlog slashed after hiring blitz

More than 500,000 claims made to Services Australia have been removed from the backlog in just 10 weeks.

AAP

Second energy firm wrongly received money from welfare payments under Centrepay scheme

Services Australia is working with Ergon to return overpayments, prompting fears the issue first identified at AGL could be widespread

The Guardian - AU

Job providers receiving millions of dollars for positions found by jobseekers themselves

Welfare advocates say there is ‘simply no reason’ for $3.6m in payments over past five years to agencies when jobs were found prior to engaging their service

The Guardian - AU

‘I just kept paying’: Indigenous people are being exploited by businesses using Centrepay debit scheme

Many of those who sign up are from regional or remote communities, speak English as a second or third language and have limited access to clothing, household goods and services

The Guardian - AU

‘I had no access’: ex-residents of controversial rehab centre say welfare payments were taken against their wishes

Guardian Australia investigation reveals role of Centrepay in controlling income of residents at WA religious centre Esther House

The Guardian - AU

Julian Assange has extradition delayed

UK judges ask the US for assurance that Julian Assange won’t face the death penalty, a Centrelink debit system allegedly let AGL take money from vulnerable people, and Peter FitzSimons joins the Bruce Lehrmann saga.

Crikey

Energy giant wrongly received thousands from welfare payments of former customers under Centrelink scheme

Exclusive: Calls to overhaul controversial Centrepay debit system that diverted $700,000 to AGL and helped prop up Perth-based gay conversion centre

The Guardian - AU

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The Guardian - AU

Disability pension claims blew out to more than 80 days on average at the end of last year, data reveals

Department of Social Services figures show some areas had average wait times of more than 200 days between September and December

The Guardian - AU

Morning Mail: ‘Oppressive’ Centrelink suspensions; Asio defends targeting autistic boy; Dunkley byelection fallout

Asio boss insists agencies don’t radicalise people after criticism of an undercover operation

The Guardian - AU

Brain tumour patient had Centrelink payments suspended while in hospital recovering from surgery

Australian Council of Social Service says ‘unconscionable’ case shows why mutual obligations system must be ‘replaced with a fair system’ for jobseekers

The Guardian - AU

Morning Mail: bulk-billing decline mapped, water battery breakthrough, Trump asset threat

Analysis of government data shows fall in GP clinics where all costs are covered; RMIT researchers take a step towards green, recyclable ‘water batteries’

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The Guardian - AU

Job agencies suspending Centrelink payments at an alarming rate, data reveals

Exclusive: smaller Workforce Australia providers, including those catering to Indigenous jobseekers, have effectively suspended more than 90% of their caseloads

The Guardian - AU

Afternoon Update: Swiftmania hits Melbourne; 78-year-old robotax victim ‘distressed’; and New York sues ‘addictive’ social platforms

ATO faces scrutiny for pressuring people to repay old debts in a campaign drawing parallels with Centrelink’s robodebt scandal

The Guardian - AU

Services Australia apologises over Centrelink call centre performance as age pension claims hit by huge delays

New data reveals backlog of 1.1m claims across all payments while around half of all calls to Centrelink went unanswered in six-month period

AAP

Indigenous women at risk from lack of DV legal funding

First Nations women face appallingly high rates of domestic and family violence, with stretched specialist legal services having to turn away clients or close.

AAP

Women trying to flee DV held back by income management

Indigenous, legal and community advocates have told a Senate inquiry that compulsory income management doesn't work and can have dire unintended consequences.

The Guardian - AU

Jobseeker endured 11 weeks without Centrelink payments but was still forced to attend job agency appointments

Advocates say government failing to meet ‘basic obligation’ to process claims quickly after Tim McCabe spent weeks with ‘no income’

The Guardian - AU

Morning Mail: Centrelink staff toilet breaks ‘timed’, ABC defends unfair dismissal claim, hospital treatment for two royals

Unions criticise ‘intrusive’ effort to reduce call wait times; Antoinette Lattouf brings case to Fair Work Commission

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